Sly Cooper: These Little Games We Play
by Nastra1991
Summary: At first Sly just thought their little rendezvous was all fun and games, until one particular night, filled with sexual tension...now they must learn to confront their feelings for one another as other interesting things happen in their lives. Sorry for the bad description. Warning- Swearing, Adult Themes, and depending on how the story goes, the rating may change.
1. That Night

It was a late night in Paris, France, about 3 A.M. Sly Cooper was at it again. Tonight, he was having the time of his life, causing his usual mischief of thievery. He couldn't help it, not only was stealing in his blood but it was also fun. The idea of taking something and getting away with it was his adrenaline rush and the best part of it all was being pursued by a certain Fox…

Sly was jumping from rooftop to rooftop and then briefly stopped to admire the night blue sky, the stars were scattered all over the place and the moon, full and bright, was definitely a looker. He breathed a sigh of relief but he knew he couldn't stay too long and so he continued on his way. He jumped off the roof and landed safely on his feet and noticed he was in a dim alley, not that it really bothered him. He was just about to walk off until he felt something poking his back.

"Freeze, Raccoon." A feminine voice hissed.

Sly just smiled, it was only a matter of time until she showed up. Inspector Carmelita Fox, she was something else. He couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"What's with the laughter, Ringtail?" She questioned harshly.

"I have to give it to you Carmelita. Your perseverance is very admirable."

"What the hell are you talking about, pendejo?"

He smirked. "You've been chasing me down for years and you still never manage to catch me, my dear. Yet, you have determination and no person can take that away from you, that's for sure."

She said nothing so he continued.

"Your obsession with me is rather intriguing, am I always on your mind, love?"

"Obsession?! Nonsense Cooper, I just want to see your ass behind bars!" She scoffed as she still had the Shock Pistol pointed to his back.

"Hmm-mmm, is that what you really want?"

"Of course!"

He turned to face her and he stared intensively at her with his big light-brown eyes. Carmelita couldn't help but be mesmerized by his eyes, even though the alley was very dim. They were so distracting yet beautiful at the same time. She had to snap out of it and stay focus. Sly's facial expression never changed, his smirk was still plastered on his youthful face.

When the moonlight hit the two of them, she had a clearer view of him. She noticed that he wasn't wearing his typical outfit, with the exception of the hat and gloves. Instead his attire consisted of a blue jacket, black jeans that were obviously a little too big for him, and black Nikes.

"_He looks just like the boys I used to go to high school with back in the Bronx." _Carmelita mentally chuckled to herself.

"Carmelita," Sly spoke, interrupting her thoughts "there are other people out there who have committed worse crimes than I have, why not go after them?" He asked softly.

"Oh stop it, you criminals are all the same. You already know the deal, when you break the law, you face the consequences." She now had the Pistol pointed to his chest.

Sly remained calm as he shook his head.

"All criminals are the same, huh? It's unfair to say such a thing. I mean, are you really gonna sit up here and tell me that I, a thief, is equal to a rapist, a murderer, or even a pedophile?" He asked almost sounding hurt by her prejudice.

Carmelita was a little taken back by the question. As much of a dirty thief Sly was, she knew deep down he never did anything so heinous like rape, murder, or child molestation. She reluctantly agreed.

"Ok Ringtail, you have a point, but that doesn't negate the fact that you're still a fucking dirty thief!"

"I am not your enemy, love. I wish you could just step out of that black and white mentality and look at the bigger picture. I'm not as bad as you think I am." Sly said amusingly.

Carmelita just rolled her eyes to mask her uneasy feelings towards him.

"_That Cooper,"_ She thought. _"Always trying to flirt with me, I swear."_

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even have time to react when Sly knocked her weapon out of her hands with his cane. She lunged at the Raccoon to land some blows on him but with his agility, he was a step ahead of her. He used his cane to block her blows however she managed to snatch the cane out of his hands and slapped him in his face. She quickly went to go find her gun. When she grabbed for it, she looked up, only to find that he was nowhere in sight.

She cursed herself for allowing her thoughts to distract her until she felt someone grab her from behind, causing her to drop her Pistol and then nudged her into a corner, with her back facing him.

Carmelita squirmed and tried to get out of his grip, but no such luck. She was now in his grasp. That slender body of his had her fooled, he was strong.

Sly couldn't help but giggle as he held the vixen tighter.

"I love playing these little games with you, Ms. Fox. You're definitely a feisty woman." He whispered flirtatiously as his cinnamon scented breath warmed her neck.

She started to blush as her heart pounded rapidly and she began to feel warm in certain places.

"L…L…Let go of m…me." She could barely breathe with the Raccoon right there holding her. This was way too close for comfort for her.

Oddly enough, he relaxed his grip around her, letting her go and then backed away a bit.

Without warning, she turned around and pounced on him, with his back to the ground and her on top of him. He was now in her mercy as she straddled and pinned him down. Carmelita was definitely not happy, he saw the intense fiery in her eyes but he just laughed and flashed that cocky grin of his. It irritated her even more.

"I guess you got me now, love. I didn't realize you like to be on top." Sly arrogantly joked.

He could have easily pushed her off of him and flee but he was having too much fun with this vixen.

"Muthafucka, this is not some kind of game!" She snapped.

She was about to continue her tirade until she immediately fell silent as his words began to sink in. She was sitting right on his pelvic area and felt his hardness. Sly just looked up at her with a smug expression on his face, as if he was waiting on her to do something. Her blood ran cold and she became nervous. She realized how bad the two them looked in this position, anyone, especially her co-workers, could have been present at this very moment and never let her live it down. It was already a hassle for her at work when dealing with rumors about her and Sly's "relationship". She didn't need any other rumor being spread. She quickly got off of him to get her Shock Pistol. He pulled himself together and grabbed his cane.

"It was nice spending time with you, love. You really made my night." He blew her a kissed and then climbed up the fire escape and headed to the roof of the building.

"I'm not gonna let you get away from me puta!" Carmelita shouted as she followed him but by the time she reached the rooftop, there was no site of him anywhere, he was long gone.

"Fuck you Sly!" yelled in rage. Once again, he cleverly slipped through her hands.

**A/N: I have never written a Sly Cooper story until now. I just wanted to do it just to get it out of my mind. A few minor notes, I made Carmelita Fox Puerto Rican from Bronx, NY. Sly is also from NY, particularly Yonkers. But, the setting of course is in Paris, France. Depending on how the story goes, it may be about 4 to 5 chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a comment. **


	2. Can't Get You Out Of My Mind Pt 1

Sly finally arrived at his hideout. It was nearly 5 A.M. He knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it once he got inside. Murray and Bentley were his childhood friends, the three of them grew up in the orphanage together. They were the closest things to a family Sly had. As much as he loved the two like brothers, he honestly didn't feel like hearing their, well mostly Bentley's, nagging about safety and whatnot.

"_They act like I'm their child, despite us being the same age as each other."_ Sly smiled at the thought.

He unlocked the door and walked into the living room. He noticed that Murray was yelling at the T.V. screen, apparently watching wrestling. Bentley was in his own world typing away on his laptop.

"Sly! Where have you been, buddy? You had us worried." Murray questioned but still focused his attention to the T.V.

"Yeah, I've been trying to reach you for the past hour. I mean, I figured you would be okay but sheesh it's not like you to not at least hit us up."

"I'm sorry mom and dad, I promise not to do that again." Sly mocked.

Murray snickered a bit and then took a bite of his pizza, while Bentley just shook his head.

"Unfortunately, I had a little run in with Carmelita Fox. She can be quite a handful sometimes." Sly said as he went into the refrigerator for some beer.

"That woman is a certified mental case, her obsession with you always creeps me out." Bentley shivered at the thought of her.

"Don't forget that temper of hers." Murray added.

"Aww come on you two, she may have her issues but I think there's more to her than what she leads people to believe. I actually don't mind that she takes an interest in me." Sly then took a sip of his drink and sat down on the lounge chair.

"Inspector Fox seems like one of those women who can't keep a man." Murray teased.

"No man in their right mind wants to put up with her that's why." Bentley said bluntly as he continued typing.

"Wow, you two are harsh. I wasn't expecting all that." Sly was a little tickled by his friends' comments.

"I wonder if you would still feel that way if you felt the wrath of her Shock Pistol." Murray uttered.

"He has a point Murray. We were being rather mean, let's just leave it be."

Sly yawned, he was getting tired. He got up from his chair, threw the empty beer can in the trash, and told his friends goodnight. Before, he retired, he remembered something.

"Hey Bentley, I almost forgot to give you this." He went into his pocket and handed Bentley a small case.

Bentley opened it and was amazed at what he saw.

"Ahh, so you were able to swipe the Purple Gem of South Africa from that museum after all."

"I am a master thief."

"I figured that much. Anyway, I'll try to do further research on this. This is going to be invigorating!"

Sly just shook his head at his nerdy friend and went to his room. Once he got inside, he immediately crashed onto his bed. He didn't even care that he still had his jacket and Nike sneakers on, he just needed to sleep. However, the thought of Carmelita kept him awake. He replayed those moments with her earlier that night in his mind over and over again. The way she was on top of him, even though he played it off with a smile, he was really in shock. Not so much by her being on him but just the fact that he didn't even push her off of him. What made it more awkward was Carmelita feeling his erection underneath her, that's why she was so quick to get off of him. Sly face grew red and hot from embarrassment.

He couldn't deny it. Carmelita was a strong and intelligent young woman, although she could be a hot head and her closed-minded view on criminals didn't help either. Still, the good outweighed the bad. And what stood out to him most of all was her beauty. He could just stare at her forever if he allowed himself to do so. Her hazel eyes, her long, blue hair, and that figure, thinking about it now made his head spin. He never thought much of it until now, but those clothes she wore were revealing; they looked as if they could barely contain her.

"Who was she trying to show off for?" Sly fell into a fit of laughter at his own question and then quickly stopped.

He realized to his own horror that he was lusting after her, of all people to drool over, it had to be Inspector Carmelita Fox, his own rival. These new feelings were confusing him. He never thought about her in this matter before. He didn't know if it was his hormones or just him not having those kinds of feelings for someone in ages.

Eventually those thoughts began to wear him down as he began to close his eyes.

"I wonder if she's thinking about me...probably not in the way I'm thinking about her. She could be imagining me in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs right now." Sly smiled and with that he fell into a peaceful slumber.


	3. Can't Get You Out Of My Mind Pt 2

Carmelita was finally at home, stressed out and pissed off. She received a good verbal lashing from her Boss, Chief Barkley for once again failing to arrest Sly Cooper.

"That damn Ringtail…" She murmured to herself.

Carmelita snatched her badge from her collar and out of pure rage, threw it across the living room, not caring where it landed. Then she stormed off upstairs to her bedroom. She then went straight to her bathroom and turned the knobs of the shower on. She removed her clothes and stepped into the shower. The hot water drenched her as well as soothe her. However, as calming as the shower was, it couldn't alleviate her disappointment in herself. Not because of her letting Cooper escape for the umpteenth time but because of what happened between them in that alley. She mentally kicked herself for being so careless and stupid like that. Her straddling him the way she did was bad enough but knowing that the Raccoon was becoming aroused by her made her loath him more than usual.

"_He had the nerve to show that arrogant yet innocent smirk to me. As if he wanted me to fuck him in that alley. That Cooper is loco and such a pervert."_ Carmelita frowned at that thought of him staring at her like that.

It was already a pain that, along with rumors about her and Cooper, she also had to put up with perverted men at the Station who would either leer at her or make inappropriate comments to her. Now she just turned a thief on, how was she going to deal with that? Everything about that moment was so…awkward.

She just sighed in annoyance and turned the shower off and headed back to her bedroom. She put her pajamas on and plopped down on her bed. Although she was extremely tired, especially after sleeping less than four hours the night before, she found herself wide awake. That Raccoon was on her mind. She couldn't believe it. Sly Cooper, the cocky and snarky thief who always caused hell for the past few years now and yet…he was charming, polite, and such a gentleman despite being a criminal. He wasn't the scrawny eighteen-year-old boy she first met. He was now twenty-one years old, still thin, but it was obvious that he was working out more. She couldn't even get out of his grip. One side of her despised him but another part of her felt something for him.

Carmelita shook it out of her mind. She never thought about him this way before, why was this happening now?

"What the hell is wrong with me? Even if I wanted to be with Ringtail, it would never work out, I'm a cop and he's a thief."

She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else to clear her mind.

"It would never work." She sleepily mumbled and then drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it. I really don't know how this story is gonna go, my fingers have control over me. Hehe. Like I said before, the rating of this story could change if it becomes too mature, not right away but just keep that in mind. There may be some OCs in this story by chapter 4 or 5, and yes even though I did say that this story may be only 4 or 5 chapters long, I take that back, it may be longer than that. **


	4. That Night?

Sly was out in the night pulling off his latest heist of a museum, stealing a gold chain that allegedly once belong to Benni Bambino, a notorious leader of a mafia in Chicago, Illinois. He took it out of his pocket and briefly examined the chain; it was in good condition, mostly because it hasn't been worn in decades. It was definitely going to sell well on Thiefnet. He practically had dollar signs in his eyes.

Sly quietly walked down the streets of Paris, despite the fact that it was 2:30 A.M. He still didn't want to attract unnecessary attention. There were still a few people roaming around the streets, some of them messing around with their friends or being drunk out of their minds. He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head and kept walking. When saw a nearby alley he immediately made a sharp turn and ran down there as a shortcut. He was almost at the fire escape until he heard a female voice.

"You're under arrest Raccoon!"

Sly turned his head and saw that it was once again his favorite Fox, Carmelita. She was in one of the fire escapes on the other side, aiming the Shock Pistol at him.

He smirked. "Nice to see you again, love. It's good to know that you're always right behind me."

"You and your damn snarky comments, Ringtail." She sneered and then jump off the fire escape and started walking towards the Raccoon.

"Hey darling, you need to be careful with that pistol." Sly stated smugly but cautiously started to back away.

"Sly, you're going to jail, whether you like it or not." She hissed as she continued towards him.

"I don't want to go to jail, love. Besides, I'll miss the little games we play and I know you will too." He was now in a corner. He didn't fret much, he had a way to escape, and he just wanted to have some fun with Carmelita. He stared at her arrogantly.

She unexpectedly snatched his cane out of his hands and threw it to the side, grabbed the front part of his jacket, with the pistol only a few inches away from him. He found himself giggling at this whole ordeal. He was just waiting for the opportunity to break out but he was going to let her have her moment.

"I have you cornered now Cooper; you have nowhere else to go." Now she was the one with the smirk on her face.

"You're right. I have no place to go. I am at your mercy. I guess you should put the handcuffs on me now, huh?" He displayed an innocent smile at her.

However, the situation made an unexpected turn. Never in his lifetime did he ever think this would happen.

Carmelita dropped her Shock Pistol and pulled Sly closer to her and kissed him. Sly's brown eyes grew in shock of what was happening to him. He was being kissed by Inspector Carmelita Fox, his rival. Her tongue was massaging his, exploring his whole mouth. The kiss became more passionate as she slipped her hands underneath his jacket and fondled his chest through his shirt. As much as Sly enjoyed this, he was still confused by this sudden moment of making out. He briefly pulled away from her, breathing heavily as he tried to speak.

"Carmelita…why…how…" Sly never finished his question once he felt the force of her hand against his face.

He almost lost his balance from that slap. Even though it wasn't the first time she had done this, Sly was totally bewildered by everything going on. He rubbed his face as she looked at him with irritation. She too was breathing heavily.

"Sly, shut the fuck up and enjoy this before I change my mind!" She hollered and then proceeded to kiss him again, this time rougher than before.

Too many things were going through Sly's mind, even though he teased the Inspector and had feelings for her, he never thought it would get to this point. He didn't think Carmelita liked him, in fact he really believed she hated him. Boy was he wrong.

She continued to kiss and rub his chest underneath his jacket. Then she broke away and stared at him. There was a look in her eyes that Sly had never seen before. Lust and possibly, love?

For the first time in his life, he actually felt nervous around her. A few sweat drops began to run down his face and his heart was racing rapidly. How did he know that this wasn't a trap or something? No, it couldn't, but this wasn't like Carmelita to act this way, especially since they're in an alley of all places. Why the sudden change? What if someone saw them together like this? Wait. Why did he suddenly care whether someone saw them or not?

All of this was making Sly excited, anxious, and yet still confused.

He saw her kneel before him with an intense look of lust and began rubbing him through his jeans. He started to roll his eyes and moan loudly. Carmelita smiled at his reaction.

He looked down at her and knew right away what she was going to do. He still couldn't wrap his head around all of this. Carmelita Fox, the cop whose been chasing him for years, claiming to hate him, and throw him in prison, was now on her knees trying to unbuckle and unzip his jeans.

"Relaje mi amor, déjeme hacer todo el trabajo." She whispered seductively in Spanish.

At that point, Sly just went with the flow and closed his eyes…

Sly shot open his eyes as he heard the alarm clock. Drowsy and agitated, he smashed the alarm button to stop the obnoxious sound. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:00 A.M. in the morning. He groaned, the alarm was acting up again, he wasn't even suppose to wake up until 11:00 A.M. He was angry not only because he was disturbed from his sleep but also because of the sexual dreams he was having for the past two weeks now. He pushed the covers off of him and noticed his pajama pants were hot and sticky.

"These were my favorite pants too." Sly sighed in annoyance as he ran his fingers through his fur, realizing he was also sweaty. "That Carmelita has me in a tizzy."

He got up and went into the bathroom to clean himself up. When he was finished, he went right back to bed and just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard a knock on the door. He groaned.

"Come in." he shouted and then the door opened.

It was Bentley, wheeling himself into the room with his laptop.

"What's up Bentley?" He asked even though he wasn't in the mood to speak.

"I found the greatest treasure we can get our hands on, Sly!"

Sly quickly sat up with his ears perked up.

"What is it?"

"The sword of the Samurai, apparently it's at least a thousand years old and it is made out of gold." Bentley said in excitement as he showed Sly what it looked like on his laptop.

"How much is it worth, Bentley?"

"Somewhere around twelve thousand dollars but if we play our cards right and sell it on Thiefnet, we could get at least thirty thousand, if not more."

"What?! We definitely need to get our hands on that! Where is it being held at?" Sly was practically salivating in the mouth over this.

"It has been through various places but as of now it's…" Bentley briefly stopped talking as he continued to type on his laptop. "Aha, I found the location, it's now being held in Yonkers…" Bentley instantly stopped talking as he said that.

Sly said nothing also and began to stare off into space. Of all places in the world, their hometown had to be the one with the treasure.

Yonkers, New York…

**A/N: FYI, this may be subject to change depending on how this story goes but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for the reviews and I'm glad you guys like this story so far. Like I said before, a new OC may pop up soon and even though this story mostly focuses on Sly and Carmelita, there will still be some side stories to still keep it interesting. Again, thanks. **


	5. Drifting Back

Sly remain quiet, getting lost in his thoughts. The word "Yonkers" made him stiffen into a statue. It was the place he was born and raised in. Memories flooded through his mind, some good, but mostly terrible and painful recollections, some that even Bentley and Murray knew nothing about. Oddly enough however, one memory that stood out to him the most was one involving his parents.

* * *

**Yonkers, NY: 2:25 A.M. Summer of 1979**

"Connor, why would you do this to us?! I thought you gave this up a long time ago!"

"I'm sorry Lauren, but I had to do it, I just had to get it out of my system."

"Do you not realize how foolish you sound right now?"

Sly woke up, startled by the sounds of his parents arguing in the living room. Although it was rare, it didn't comfort Sly very much to hear or witness their verbal lashings towards each other. He gripped his blanket tighter when their dispute grew louder than before.

"Foolish?! How am I being foolish when you know this is in my blood?" Sly's father snapped.

"Connor, you are being foolish! Coming in at two in the morning and acting like you're a damn teenager. You told me after Sly was born, you were going to retire. But here you are sneaking into the house and acting as if everything is ok!" Sly's mother angrily responded.

"You better calm down woman. You know Sly's asleep." Sly's father lowered his voice but was still vexed.

Sly cringed when he heard his name and began to rub his head to soothe himself.

"Oh, so now you give a damn about your son? Were you thinking of him when you went on your petty heist tonight?"

"Why are you acting like this, Lauren? You know this has been going on in my family for generations, why are you acting like you didn't already know this?"

"Connor, don't you even try! You know damn well as I do that I have long accepted that part of your heritage. But, you are not a young man anymore; you are someone's husband and father. How can I even trust you after you lied to me and did this behind my back!?" She snarled.

Sly couldn't take it anymore. He jumped out of bed, quietly opened his door, and walked out of the room. He hid behind the couch in the living room. He knew he was supposed to be in bed but all of this was frightening him and he wanted to make sure the argument didn't escalate into something worse.

Sly's father put his hand on her shoulder. "This is the only time I've done this, Lauren. You see that I'm ok-"

Sly's mother cut him off as she pushed his hand away. "I'm having a hard time believing this the first time you've done this. How am I so sure you haven't done this several times already?!" Tears began to stream down her face. "Did it ever occur to you that something could happen to you?! What if you got caught and were thrown in prison? Or what if you slipped up and got killed?! What then Connor?! What would I tell our son if you died because of your recklessness? I will never forgive myself if something horrible happened t-t-to y-y-you!" She began to sob violently.

Sly was horrified by his mother's sadness. He had never seen her so upset like this before. He came from behind the couch with tears in his eyes.

"Stop it!"

The two adults turned the head in bewilderment to see that their four-year-old son with his big, teary light-brown eyes looking up at the two of them, shivering in fear.

"Daddy, don't make Mama cry! Please don't make her cry! Please!" Sly could no longer control himself and fell into a crying spell himself.

Sly's mother quickly stopped her crying but was still visibly upset. The two parents put aside their differences and comforted their child. All three of them sat on the couch together.

"Aww, baby boy, it's ok. It's gonna be ok." His mother rubbed her son's back to soothe him and gave him a kiss as his father rubbed his son's head.

"Why were you yelling at each other? I thought you two loved each other?" Sly questioned and then coughed a little. His mother patted his back and then went back to rubbing it.

"We do love each other. Mama and I just had a little issue. We didn't mean to scare you."

"Then don't make Mama cry again, Daddy. Say you sorry."

Sly's father looked at his wife and gave her a kiss.

"I'm sorry love, you were right, anything could have happened to me. I've should have known better. You and Sly are important to me. Do you forgive me?" He asked innocently.

She smiled and touched he husband's face. "Yes I do." Then she kissed him back.

Sly felt more relaxed now that his parents were both happy.

"So, who wants some ice cream?" Sly's father asked.

After the three of them finished their ice cream, Sly's father got up from the couch and went to his record player. He had a large collection of Vinyl records in his shelf that he collected over the years. He had everything from Queen to The Doors to Elvis to Bing Crosby to Isley Brothers to The Manhattans and basically any artist from any genre of music anyone could think of between the '50s and '70s. He pulled out an O'Jays' record he knew his wife loved and put it on the record player and the music began to play. Sly's mother began to blush as she and Sly saw him dancing towards them.

"Mrs. Cooper, would you mind sharing this dance with this tall and handsome Raccoon?" He teased a bit as he held his hand out to her.

She rolled her eyes at him and the grabbed his hand and held each other as they dancing.

_You're my darlin', darlin' baby  
You're my darlin', darlin' love  
You're my darlin', darlin' baby  
I said you're everything I ever hoped for in a woman  
And as long as I may live_

_Ooh, you're my darlin', darlin' baby_  
_You're my sweet and tender love_  
_You're a very special lady_  
_I said you're the one that I always dreamed of in a woman_  
_I'll give all that I can give_

Sly gazed at his parents as they both kept their rhythm to the fast pace beat of the song. He started laughing at the two of them and got up to join them. The three of them had a good time and the two doting parents giggled as they watch their son try to keep up.

Later on, Sly's father wrapped his arm around his wife and held his son with his other arm. He was slow dancing with his wife while Sly sleepily laid his head on his father's strong shoulder. He felt safe and knew he had nothing to worry about.

_Last night me and my woman  
We cried, cried together  
Said we cried {Cry}, cried {Cry}, cried {Cry}  
We cried together (Oh...oh...oh...)_

_Ain't nothin' wrong with you, no_  
_There ain't nothin' wrong with me, uh-uh_

_We're not the only people in the world_  
_Who go through ups and downs_  
_All we have to do is talk_  
_We can work it out_

The smooth sounds of the O'Jays played softly in the background. Sly's father held both his son and wife tightly, he gave both of them a kiss, although Sly stirred a bit and turned his face away, which made the older Raccoon giggle a bit.

"I love both of you very much and I'll never allow anything to happen to either one of you…"

Sly smiled, knowing that both his parents will always be there for him…

* * *

"Sly! Sly! Sly! Oh lord, he's going to hate me for this but here goes nothing."

Bentley took a cup of ice-cold water and splashed it in Sly's face, making the Raccoon snap out of trance.

"H-h-huh, w-w-what happened n-now?" Sly was dumbfounded as he was shivering from the cold water drenching his fur.

"Whoa, you had me frightened Sly, you were staring off into space for over fifteen minutes."

Sly rubbed he wet face, mumbling in annoyance.

"Is something wrong Sly?" Bentley was concerned with Sly's unusual behavior.

"_You threw water in my damn face, that's what's wrong." _He thought but instead he said.

"No, I'm ok Bentley, I'm going back to sleep, we'll discuss the plan later." Sly pulled the covers over his body.

"Are you sure you want to do this Sly, we haven't been back to our hometown in years and I know we've been through a lot-"

"Bentley," Sly said with an edge to his voice. "I'm really tired right now. We're going to go through with this, ok?"

Bentley knew not to argue with his friend and with that he silently wheeled himself out the room, closing the door behind him.

Sly honestly didn't mean to be rude to Bentley but too many things were going through his mind. From Carmelita invading his dreams to now going back to their hometown, some of it was rather unsettling to him. He can defeat the Fiendish Five and restore his family's heirloom but he couldn't even so much as go back to his hometown. He felt so silly and weak for feeling that way. But having to be reminded of the painful memories of the orphanage, the streets, and witnessing his parents being put in body bags took a toll on his mental and emotional state. It was the reason he and his friends left Yonkers in the first place. However, he knew he had to confront his childhood struggles head on eventually; running away from it was only going to drive him insane. He put it out of his mind for now and thought about Carmelita. A smile appeared on his face as he lied down on his bed.

**A/N: Minor note, Like I said before, Sly and his friends, in this story, were born and raised in NY. I did change the time period but it's whatever. I wanted to show that despite Sly being cocky, poised, yet silly, he had emotional turmoil like everyone else. I love the game but honestly I didn't like how they didn't touch how much his parents' death really affect him. Yes, He got revenge and yes he did talk about his parents being killed, but the game never fully into the emotional aspect of it. Anyway, I hoped you guys like this chapter. The next one will be about Carmelita. Thanks for the reviews! BTW, Songs are by the O'Jays "Cry Together" and "Darlin' Darlin' Baby". I don't own these characters nor the songs.**


	6. Girl Fight!

Carmelita was sitting at her desk daydreaming. It was a slow day at the Station and she was just ready for it to be over. She hasn't seen Sly Cooper since their encounter weeks ago. Part of her was still ticked off by it but the other part of her admittedly liked it. She was still a little out of the loop about the feelings she had been having for the Raccoon lately. She didn't know what to think at this point. Did she really like him or was she just going through a phase? Her thoughts came to a halt as one of her co-workers approached her desk with a stack of folders.

"Hey Inspector Fox." Merlin the mongoose chimed.

"Uh, oh hey Merlin, what's up?"

"Barkley wants you to go over these files before you leave today." He placed the folders on her desk, making her groan.

"Great."

"I know, Inspector. I feel your pain." He said with honesty. "Barkley has been off the chain lately, he's trying to get me to finish two week's worth of paperwork in three days. Ain't nobody have time for all that. He needs to do this bullshit his own damn self." They both snickered.

"You're so silly Merlin, I'll catch you later."

"You too Inspector Fox." He waved goodbye and walked away.

Carmelita sighed in aggravation as she scanned through the folders.

"What else do I have to put up with today?" She mumbled as she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down.

"Hello Ms. Fox. Dreaming about your boyfriend Sly today?" She heard a nasally voice.

She opened her eyes to see that it was her infuriating co-worker Gina Lomax, a female Cocker Spaniel who always found a way to ruin Carmelita's mood.

"Is there something you need Ms. Lomax?" She asked, obviously not wanting to deal with her the moment.

The Cocker Spaniel deviously smiled at the Vixen.

"I was just making sure you were ok, especially since you haven't been yourself lately after Barkley chewed you out for once again allowing Sly Cooper to escape."

"He's not as easy as you think he is. He's a pretty tricky bastard."

"Sure, Ms. Fox, Sure. As handsome as that Cooper is, I guess I would allow him to get away too."

She giggled, knowing that this would anger the Vixen.

Carmelita was not going to play nice this time, she got up from her chair and was right up in Gina's face.

"Look here, I've been trying to ignore your little snide remarks for the longest, but now you are pushing it, I would step off if I were you." She hissed lowly.

Gina was still unfazed.

"Uh oh, someone's angry. I'm really convinced that there's something going on between you two, it's too hard to ignore. I bet you two are sleeping together."

Carmelita was at her wit's end with the Cocker Spaniel.

"I've had enough of you, Bitch! Get the hell out of my office!" She roughly shoved Gina.

"Don't you put your fucking hands on me, you slut!"

Whoever threw the first punch really didn't matter because both of them were attacking each other. Their fight went from one corner of Carmelita's office to another. Stuff was being knocked the desk and papers were flying everywhere. The two of them were scratching and pulling each others' hair.

Carmelita slapped her in the face.

"You whore!" Gina screeched and punched the Vixen in the face.

Some of the co-workers heard the commotion and rushed to the office. They were in complete shock at what they were witnessing. The office was a wreck, almost as if a tornado rip through it, but most the shocking part was seeing two grown women fighting each other as if they were on the Jerry Springer Show.

The co-workers snapped out of their state of shock as they pulled the two women off, holding them back from hurting each other.

"You ruined my hair, you gonna pay for this Carmelita!"

"Hair?" Carmelita bitterly laughed. "You know damn well that Korean yaki bird's nest isn't yours!"

"What the hell is going on in here?!" A voiced roared.

Everyone froze, realizing it was the Boss, Inspector Barkley. His eyes were blood-shot red, appalled at what he discovered. He gnawed on his cigar in rage.

"Inspector Fox, in my office, immediately!" He bellowed and stomped off.

Carmelita felt her blood run cold, ashamed that she put herself in this situation. She knew she was in deep trouble. Before she left her office, she saw Gina evilly smirking at her as if to say 'You gonna get it now, bitch.' She growled at the Cocker Spaniel and left.

She walked into her Boss's office and sat down, his intense stare intimidated her.

"Barkley, sir, I-I-I can explain-."

He put his hand up to silence her and surprisingly relaxed his face.

"I know Gina Lomax is an instigator, I have gotten a few complaints about her. I will definitely deal with her later. However, Inspector Fox, you need to keep your emotions in check. If I ever see you carry on the way you did today, you will be suspended. I like you very much, Inspector I don't ever want to go there with you. Have I made myself clear?" He stated in a serious tone.

Carmelita nervously nodded. He didn't have to tell her twice.

"Good. Anyway," The Badger continued as he smoked his cigar. "I have an important assignment for you. There's an ancient weapon called the Sword of the Samurai that needs to be heavily guarded. It has been held in several other places, with too many attempts to steal it. Supposedly, it's worth a lot of money." He handed her some information.

Carmelita nodded and took the papers. "Where is it now, sir?"

Barkley took a long puff of his cigar and then answered. "It's being held in Yonkers, New York. I figured that since you're from New York, you'll feel right at home."

"Yes sir."

"Besides, I think this will be good for you. I know you've been stressed out lately. You should get away from France for a while. Maybe you can spend time with your family and I know they miss you."

"Maybe you're right sir. When do I leave?"

"This Friday at 9:00 A.M. You're a good cop, Fox, don't let me down."

"I won't sir."

"Good, you're dismissed. Oh by the way, I still need that paperwork done today and please clean up your office. And tell that Gina Lomax I would like to have a word with her."

"Yes sir." She simply said and with that she was out of that office, relieved that everything surprisingly didn't suck today. A smile appeared on her face, thinking about her beloved home in the Bronx, she couldn't wait to be there. She hasn't been back there in a few years. This trip could very well be the thing she needs to clear her mind, especially with Sly Cooper constantly invading her thoughts lately.

"Now where is that Gina?"

* * *

Sly and the gang were packing up a few things for their heist in New York. He initially had mixed feelings about returning to his birthplace but he knew what he had to do. He was not going to allow his demons to overcome him. He looked over at his dresser and viewed a picture of him as a child and his parents in Coney Island, eating Nathan's Hotdogs. A look of sadness crept upon his face.

Then someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." He said.

It was Murray, looking eager as ever to leave.

"Hey Sly, you're ready buddy? We gotta get going in a few hours."

Sly continued to stare at the picture then turned to his friend with his signature smug expression.

"Sly Cooper is always ready."

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone. I just want to once again thank everyone for the reviews, I appreciate it! I know I keep talking about this OC but he will be debuting in the next chapter. Ok peace.**


	7. Memories

They finally arrived to New York via plane, in which they had to disguise themselves and present fake IDs and Passports just to travel. Unfortunately, they had to leave the van in their hideout in France but they didn't worry too much about that because when they were coming up, they either took a cab, subway or simply just walked just to get from place to place. Not only that, they had connections, they weren't alone, in fact they were waiting outside the airport for a good friend of theirs to pick them up.

Sly looked at his watch. "It is 1:46 in the afternoon, I hope he hurries up, I'm quite tired from that plane ride."

"Same here, I also forgot about the change in time zones. That can take a lot out of you." Bentley added.

"You guys are wimps, The Murray had very peaceful plane ride."

Both Sly and Bentley amusingly rolled their eyes at their friend.

"It had to be peaceful for you with all that snoring you were doing." Bentley joked.

Just then a Black 1996 Chevy Blazer pulled up near the gang and out came the person they been waiting for.

"What it is Cracker-box and his homeboys, you skillet biscuits keeping it real?" A thick French accented voice uttered.

"Dimitri, still not making any sense I see." The Raccoon chuckled as he greeted the Marine Iguana.

"Yo check it Cracker-box, don't disrespect it. I can make dollars and cents."

"Umm…ok." Sly responded with a smile as he and his gang packed their stuff in the car.

Dimitri was once their enemy who later became their friend and occasionally joined in their heists. He was actually a pretty cool guy despite his rather confusing pattern of speech. But, considering how he learned English through rap videos it explained a lot. He later decided to move here to Bronx, New York and when Bentley told him about their plans, he definitely wanted in on the action. Everything worked out well since the Bronx bordered Yonkers.

Once they got into the car, they quickly drove off.

Dimitri had the music turned up, bopping his head to the music while smoking his cigarette. Sly just shook his head in amusement at how silly he looked.

_Here comes the brand new flava in ya ear,  
Time for new flava in ya ear,  
I'm...kicking...new...flava in ya ear,  
Mack's a brand new flava in ya ear,  
Here comes the brand new flava in ya ear_

Sly turned his head to see his friends in the backseat were in their own worlds, Bentley typing away on his laptop and Murray stuffing his face with snacks. The music was blasting throughout the SUV.

…_I scraped it...shaped it...now she won't strut,  
I smash teeth,  
Fuck your beef,  
No relief,  
I step on stage girls scream like I'm Keith,  
You won't be around next year,  
My rap's too severe,  
Kicking mad flava in ya ear,_

It was quiet for a while so Sly decided to break the silence.

"So Dimitri, how are you enjoying New York?"

"It's mad cool, bro. They got mad stores, the restaurants are the bomb-diggity-bomb, and the plays are cool like the other side of the pillow."

"Uh-huh, New York was definitely a good choice for you."

He and Dimitri talked a bit more but eventually, he was knocked out in slumber land…

* * *

"Sly pass the ball son!"

"Ok Daddy!" eight-year-old Sly shouted as he threw the ball to his father.

Sly and his father were playing catch at Grant Park & Playground in Yonkers, it was a warm spring afternoon. They were enjoying each others' company. There were a few kids outside playing on the playground, with their parents watching them, but Sly and his father were in their own little world. They've been playing hard for nearly two hours and Sly's father was becoming exhausted.

"Woo, Ok son, Daddy needs to rest, I'm not a whipper snapper like you." He said as he collapsed onto the rich green grass, breathing heavily.

Sly started to frown, he wanted to keep playing.

"Come on Daddy, get up, I wanna keep playing." He said as he jumped on his dad and tackled him.

Then his father scooped him and started wrestling him. Then Sly's father got up and started to run away from him as Sly tried to chase him down. When Sly latched onto his father's leg, his father pretended to surrender as he once again fell to the ground.

"Ok, baby boy, you got me, I give up." He heaved in exhaustion.

"I'm the greatest Daddy!" Sly belted as he flexed his little muscles.

"Yes, you are son."

"I love you Daddy."

"I love you too son." He said as he patted his son's head. "Let's go home."

Later that evening, Sly was playing in the living room as his father looked on and his mother was in the kitchen washing dishes. Sly was on the floor with some legos, apparently building a tower of some sort; it was nearly as tall as he was. Everything was calm and peaceful, since the whole household was occupied with their own activities.

Sly's father was in deep thought. He felt it was time for his son to inherit the family heirloom, the Thievius Raccoonus. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt this way, but he knew his instincts were telling him it was the right time.

"Sly, can you please come over here my child?" His father gently commanded.

Sly walked up to his father and then his father put him on his lap.

"Remember when I told you about your ancestors and how you come from a long line of master thieves?" His father questioned.

"Yes, I remember Daddy." Sly answered but puzzled as to why his father was mentioning this out of nowhere.

"Thievery is in our blood, son. No person can ever take your birthright from you. I used to be part of gang in which we stole many things from other criminals but that has long passed. But remember son, never-"

"-Take from the innocent because there's no honor or challenge in doing so."

Sly's father raised his eyebrow, impressed that his son was a step ahead of him. He looked at the Thievius Raccoonus, which was sitting on the table besides him, and picked it up.

"You know Sly, my father gave me this book when I was about your age, maybe a little older. I feel-no, I believe this is the perfect time for you to keep in your possession. The Thievius Raccoonus now belongs to you, my child." His father handed him the book.

Sly was astounded that the book that has been in his family for generation was now his. The cover was worn out but was still in decent condition considering its age. He ran his hand over it, he felt like it was all a dream but it wasn't. He was next in line in the Cooper Clan and he knew he had to make his family proud.

"Thank you Daddy, I will not let you down and I'll be the best Thief that has ever existed!" He exclaimed with pride. "I'll be an even better thief than you Daddy!"

"Your determination never ceases to amaze me. I know you'll be good but not as great as your old man." His father snorted.

"I'll prove it to you, just watch Daddy." Sly looked up with his chocolate-brown eyes at his father with a mischievous smile.

His father chuckled as he gave his son a kiss. "I'll take your word for it son."

* * *

"Sly wake up! Wake up Sly." Murray said as he shook the sleeping Raccoon awake from the backseat.

"Uhh-w-what wh-what, what's going o-o-on?" Sly drowsily stammered as his eyes sprang open.

"We're almost in the Bronx." Bentley said.

"Yo, my crib is greasy sweet, homefries!" Dimitri puffed his cigarette.

"If it's as greasy sweet as your tacky suit, then I wouldn't be surprise." Sly sarcastically commented as his friends broke out in laughter.

"Aww, why you gotta do me like that bro?" Dimitri was not amused.

"Do you like what? I have never done a man before unless you want to take up that offer." Sly pretended to be seductive as he placed his hand on Dimitri's thigh and his friends nearly lost it, their sides were hurting while Dimitri was even more frustrated.

"Yo, no touching of the suit, Cracker-Box." He said as whacked Sly's hand away but still keeping his eyes on the road. "I'm not into the downlow stuff, man. If that's what you like to do, that's your business."

"Aww, come on Dimitri, I was just playing, besides you know Carmelita is my one and only woman in my life."

"Woo, she's a fly honey but crazy…I like that Cracker-Box."

Sly simply grinned. "Maybe I should ask her out on a date, what do you guys think?"

Now everyone, including Dimitri roared in laughter, all of them practically had tears in their eyes.

"Go-good one Sly." Bentley could barely speak.

"Right, she'll go on that date and then handcuff your silly ass." Murray added.

"Hey homies we finally arrived to my crib!" Dimitri yelled in excitement as he parked his car in front of the building and then they got out. Murray helped Bentley out of the car and sat him into his wheelchair.

Sly and his gang saw the old building and then looked around the neighborhood in bemusement. Trash was everywhere, much of the buildings were vacant and decaying, some young people on the corner looked suspicious, and there were even some folks in filthy clothing and shaking non-stop, apparently high on crack.

Sly and the gang turned back to Dimitri wondering if he lost his mind, or if he even had one for that matter.

"What the hell?" Murray uttered as he got their stuff out the car.

"You can't be serious." Bentley finally piped up.

"Please don't tell me you actually live here Dimitri." Sly spoke lowly in a serious tone.

"Yo, why you hating you guys this is my home." Dimitri smiled.

"Home? Of all place to live at, you choice the worst part of the Bronx as your home? This is where gangs and crackheads hang out at, Dimitri." Sly was bewildered. "Had I know where you lived in the first place, I would have gotten us a motel room in Mt. Vernon."

"Cracker-box, chill out, bro." The Iguana tried to assure his Raccoon friend. "I couldn't squeak to yall where I lived at, you know the Feds be listening in if you catch my drift. Besides, it's not so bad once you get down to it. It has that urban flare to it."

"_Oh great now he sounds like a Hipster."_ Sly thought to himself as he and his friends followed Dimitri into the building.

When they entered the apartment they were surprised to see that Dimitri's place was actually decent. It was a pretty clean place, nice living room, normal sized kitchen, there was big screen T.V., and the furniture didn't look tacky.

"Here's where you crash at homies." The Iguana said as he led them to the guest bedroom, which again was decent, enough for the three of them to sleep in. "I'll see you guys in a little while, I have to shine my bling."

"Maybe it won't be so bad, Sly." Bentley whispered as they unpacked their things.

"I swear Bentley, if I hear gunshots outside, I'm checking into a motel." Sly whispered back.

"You two are acting so wimpy lately. The Murray will deal. I don't like this place more than you two do, but we grew up struggling, being poor, and living in the streets, this isn't new to you two, don't be stuck up. "

"You're right Murray." Sly agreed with his Hippo friend. "We should humble ourselves and Dimitri was kind enough to pick us up and let us stay at his place."

"Right." Bentley nodded.

"Well, I'm about to order some pizza and watch wrestling." Murray grabbed the house phone and ran to the living room and turned the T.V. on.

"What are you about to do Bentley?" Sly asked.

"I'm gonna do some further research on that museum and make sure our heist goes as planned."

"Cool, that's cool. I'm gonna head to Yonkers anyway, just to clear my mind and see if anything has changed." Sly was on his way out of the room.

"Sly, are you ok?"

Sly snapped his head, perplexed.

"I'm fine Bentley. What's up?"

Bentley was contemplating whether he should question Sly's weird behavior. He knew that Sly initially had issues about coming to New York. He also knew it had something to do with his parents, but Sly rarely if ever opened up as to what exactly happened or how he truly felt about it. He recalled a few nights hearing Sly mutter in his sleep for his parents, apparently having nightmares he assumed. However, at the end, Bentley decided not to confront him about it.

"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Thanks Bentley. I'll see all of you later."

Sly was on the bus heading to his hometown. While some change was obvious, most things reminded the same. The Laundry-mats, the Chinese places, and the Bodegas were still on every corner like they were prior to his departure. He saw that old Nathan's Hotdogs restaurant with the arcade was still there, he and his friends used to hang over there when they didn't want to go back to the orphanage (well really it was a group home).

When the bus came to a stop, Sly got off and started walking around the block, trying to calm his nerves. It has been so long since he walked these streets whether it was with his friends or just by himself, it was making him unease. The cool fall breeze made him quiver, but he shook it off and kept walking. He walked for a good while until he came across his old orphanage (group home), still old and cramp. He saw some kids coming out the building looking either miserable or in a daze.

He thought back on when he first arrived there after his parents died…

* * *

**Spring of 1983**

"This will be your new home, kid. Start unpacking." The caretaker said unemotionally as she left Sly in his own sorrow. He did what he was told and took out the possessions he had left from his old home, which included some toys, clothes, family pictures, The Thievius Raccoonus, and his father's cane.

Sly couldn't stop crying, tears were flowing endlessly from the young Raccoons eyes. He never in his life ever thought he would end up in this situation, being an orphan. He was alone, he had no other living relatives. He had to look out for himself for now on. The two greatest people in the world were now out of his life. He hoped they were in heaven and were angels, maybe they'll protect him. More tears ran down his furry gray face and continued unpacking. Then a burst of anger nearly emerged from him when he thought of the evil people who killed his parents and destroyed the only life he knew.

"Hey, are you ok?" He heard a small voice.

Sly relaxed his face and turned around to see it was a small green turtle with oversized glasses on standing outside the room.

"Uh, yeah, I'm ok." Sly wiped his face, trying to play it off.

"You don't look ok, you're obviously upset."

"No, I'm ok, I'm just a little tired and I just got here today." He sniffled a bit.

"Oh, you must be that new kid, Sly Cooper, if my memory is correct."

Sly nodded at the strange turtle kid, who approached him with his hand sticking out.

"My name is Bentley."

Sly nervously took the boy's hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you Bentley."

"You want a little tour around the place?" The turtle asked.

"Sure." Sly smiled a little as he grabbed his father's cane and followed his new friend.

Bentley showed him the ropes. He showed him were the kitchen, the playroom, the bathroom and whatnot. He told him of the standard rules as well as the unwritten rules all the kids must follow in order to survive. Rules such as not touching anyone's stuff, who got to watch T.V., and following the age hierarchy (the older kids were in charge). Sly knew it was going to take some time to get used to. Bentley introduced him to all the kids in the orphanage (group home) except for one person.

The two kids went outside to the playground.

"Murray! Hey Murray! Where are you?!" Bentley bellowed.

"Who are we looking for?" Sly questioned.

"Murray, he's my friend." Then went back to search for this mysterious "Murray".

"Murray, where the heck are you buddy?!"

"…Help...Help." A faint voice uttered.

The two boys turned to see it was a chubby pink hippo stuck in a tire swing. He looked scared and worn out from the useless struggle.

"Murray, what happened?! Who did this to you?!" After several tugs the two managed to get the young hippo free. Then a dark shadow covered them and Murray cried out, pointing at the figure.

"He did!"

It was a weasel, who seemed to be about twelve or thirteen years old, he was nearly two feet taller than the younger boys, had gapped teeth, and pimples all over his face. He looked creepy and mean-spirited when he grinned evilly at them.

"I see the pink blubber-butt had to get his little scrawny friends to help him out. That's good for me, now I have three weaklings to pick on!" The gross-looking weasel sneered.

"You're not gonna pick on anyone!" Sly stood up to the boy with his father's cane in hand.

The teenage weasel snorted. "You're really gonna hit me with that stick you little punk?"

Without warning, Sly courageously whacked the weasel square in his face, showing no hesitation.

The older boy staggered backwards, realizing his nose was bleed.

"Why you little bastard!"

The tried to lung at Sly but missed him due to his small stature. The older boy was trying to rain blows on the Raccoon but failed to even so much as touch the younger boy's grey fur. Sly cleverly tripped the older boy, sending him crashing to the ground. The Sly jumped on his back and sent a final blow to the weasel's head with the cane, making him see stars momentarily. Bentley and Murray glared in silence at what they saw.

Then Sly got off the kid and offered his hand to help the teen weasel. The older boy, embarrassed and enraged that he lost to a little kid, got up and retreated, nursing his bloodied nose.

"I'll get you for this you little ringed-tailed rat!" Then the weasel boy disappeared when he turned the corner.

Sly shook his head but was glad it was over. He wasn't one for physical altercations, but he had to teach that kid a lesson. He turned to Bentley and Murray, the two of them had their mouths open in shock.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Murray raved in enjoy.

"H-h-how did you do that?" Bentley stuttered.

"Look what I got out of that kid's pocket." He proudly showed the two of them a large plastic bag of candy.

"How did you do that?!" Bentley repeated as he and Murray gathered around Sly in amazement.

"Well, let's just say I come from a line of master thieves."

"Master thieves?" The other boys questioned in unison.

"Yep. My dad gave me this really cool book where they show all my family members stealing the greatest treasures ever and from the worst criminals ever, even as far back as ancient Egypt."

"Impossible." Bentley utter doubtfully as he adjusted his glasses.

"I'm serious, you want me to show you?"

The turtle and hippo looked at each other and then their faces lit up.

"Of course!"

And that is how Sly gained his two life-long friends.

* * *

**Present Day**

Sly walked further down the sidewalk with a huge smile on his face from the memory. The only good things about that group home were the friendships he gained and the block parties. Other than that, good riddance to that dump, it could burn in hell for all he cared. Part of him felt some peace about returning to New York, but he still felt uncertain about a few things. While he still wanted to get that Sword of the Samurai in his hands, he also wanted closure from his nightmarish childhood, as images of prostitutes, drug dealers, bloody street fights, and his parents' lifeless bodies on the floor surfaced in his mind. He began to frown and with his eyes closed shut until he heard a small voice shrieking throughout his mind until he realized it wasn't in his mind.

"Hey mister! Hey! Excuse me!"

Sly looked up to see a little meerkat boy with short dark-brown dreads from across the street at the basketball court, waving his arms and shouting to get his attention, apparently he was doing this for a few minutes because the kid was clearly impatient with the adult Raccoon.

Sly was caught off guard and then looked down to see that the kid's basketball was in front of his feet. He picked it up and passed it to the kid. The boy stared at him like he was crazy and then finally opened his mouth.

"Thank you." The meerkat boy said with no sincerity but Sly didn't pay him any mind and kept walking.

He had to stay focus, not only for his friends but also for his sanity. Then once again he thought about the woman he was slowly falling for, Carmelita Fox, he was still having those sexual dreams of her, but now they were driving him crazy because they were becoming more graphic as time went on. He cockily grinned to himself, thinking about how beautiful she was and how he wanted to hold her so much that it hurt him.

"It's a good thing she's not here to ruin my heist. She would have definitely been a huge distraction for me." He joked to himself.

He caught a cab ride and headed back to Dimitri's place.

* * *

**A/N: This is the longest chapter I've written so far. And yes that kid at the very end was the OC I was talking about, we will see him again soon. It took me a while to write this. I hoped you guys liked it. Sly is slowly coming to grips with his past but let's hope he doesn't slip up. The next chapter will be about Carmelita. Leave a comment. BTW, the lyrics are from the song Craig Mack "Flava In Ya Ear (remix)" Bad Boy records 1994.  
**


	8. Double Trouble

Carmelita was in the museum at 8:30 A.M., waiting on the director, who was taking far too long to show up. The Jet-Lag was getting to her even though she arrived yesterday (Friday, three days after the Cooper gang arrived). Since it has been a while since she's been back to the States, let alone New York, it was going to take a little time getting used to. She was hoping to leave soon so she can take a nap before she went to her mother's house. When she told her mother she was coming home, she was ecstatic to get to see her daughter for the first time since they visited her in France two years ago. While she was excited to see them, she had to confess to herself that they drove her crazy at times, like their constant need to ask her when she was getting married. She rolled her eyes at the thought, too much drama in her life right now for her to settle down, especially when it involved a certain Raccoon causing her hell. Lately, he's been popping into her dreams, which would start off with their Cop and Robber routine, but next thing she knew it led to her kissing him and then something even more graphic. Having sexual dreams about her enemy was bad enough but now that they kept reoccurring more and more made feel dirty and guilty. She didn't know what to think anymore.

She sighed as she looked at her watch.

"Damn, can they hurry up already?"

She finally got her wished as she saw an older male Bat-Eared Fox, who looked as tired as she did, strolled over to her.

"Inspector Fox, it's good to see you, I'm Dr. Morais I apologized for keeping you waiting. I'm not as fast as I used to be." He said humbly as he shook the vixen's hand.

She noticed that he had a very thick accent, possibly African. However, what threw her off was his name, unless he was Brazilian or Portuguese, she wasn't sure, so she asked.

"If you don't mind me asking Dr. Morais, where are you from?"

The vulpine laughed a hearty laugh.

"I guess my accent doesn't match my name, huh? I was born and raised in Angola. Many Angolans have Portuguese names and surnames due to colonization. I later came to the U.S. about ten years ago with my wife and children, but we still go back to our country to visit twice a year."

"Interesting." She raised her eyebrow at the older fox.

"Yes, Angola is a very beautiful place. Anyway, I'm just glad you're here. It'll help me sleep better at night knowing I have some help." He motioned Carmelita to follow him.

As the two walked, she viewed some of the artifacts that were on display. Most of the artifacts were from Australia, Africa, and South America, some of them were pottery, masks, musical instruments, and weapons. She was a little surprised that this Japanese sword was even in this museum considering the general theme of the place.

"This thing is so precious; it needed its own room and surveillance cameras." Dr. Morais said as he led them to the room and unclothed the artifact.

The Sword of The Samurai was precious indeed. Over 2 1/2 ft long, it was literally made out of gold, with platinum handled encrusted with diamonds. The Sheath was also made out of gold with a few colored gems covering it and it also had Japanese words engraved on it. The sword must have had a good spit shine, because it was shimmering like it was no one's business. It was in a glass case, bolted down to the display table.

"Whoa." She finally said.

The older fox nodded. "That was my reaction when it was shipped here."

"No wonder it's been through several other places. To be frank Dr. Morais, I don't even think it should be in a museum at all. "

"I understand Inspector, but it's here now. I want it to be displayed for a special presentation for next Friday evening and if everything goes well, it'll be its permanent home. And if someone attempts to steal this, I know that you Inspector can handle it, considering your upbringing here in New York and all."

"Oh yes, I can definitely handle any hoodlum who even tries to get their hands on this." She replied.

"Good. Now, let me show where the surveillance room is and the schedule for when it should be guarded."

* * *

While Carmelita was handling her assignment with the museum director, on the other side of town of Yonkers laid a public housing area which has evidently been through a lot for as long as the buildings have been around. Many low-income families, be it single or two-parent homes, lived there, with many people on welfare. One child in particular lived with neither of his parents but instead lived with his grandmother. He was a young meerkat who went by the name Damien Marlon Ortiz-Jones or just Damien to his friends. He was still asleep during an early Saturday morning until a booming voice ranged in his ears.

"Damien, wake your little behind up right now!" an older voiced shouted from the kitchen.

Damien was startled as he quickly got out of bed and went straight to the kitchen. He knew he was in for it. When he entered, he saw his grandmother pissed at him, with her hands on her hips. She was not having it today.

"Little boy, why are these dishes still in the sink? I could have sworn I told you to wash them last night."

"Uhh, see what happened was…I forgot." He was still a little groggy.

"Are you trying to be smart with me?" His grandmother looked at him like he was a fool.

"N-N-Naw, g-g-grandma…I'll w-w-wash the d-d-dishes right a-a-w-way!" He stammered as he took the stool, turned the faucet on and began to scrub the dirty dishes.

"And since you're now up, you can do the rest of your chores and you better do them the way I showed you."

"Damn, she be doin' too much." He mumbled half-asleep.

His grandmother snapped her neck to face him.

"Did you say something? Don't make me beat you silly!" She chastised her grandson.

"I didn't say nothing, ma'am." He hushed up quick.

His grandmother looked at him and then walked away. He groaned. He hoped the rest of his day won't turn into crap.

Damien later in the afternoon was playing outside at the basketball court with his friend Brandon, who was a Brown Bear. They've were playing one on one for a little while. The two of them were neck to neck but at the end, Damien was the triumphant winner as he tossed the ball straight into the basket.

"Man, you always beating me kid." Brandon said as he wiped the sweat from his face.

"Well, what can I say? I got skills." Damien replied smugly then his ears perked up as he heard his favorite song on the boom box his friend brought with him.

"Hey man, turn that up!"

Brandon increased the volume.

…_Shorty get down, good Lord  
Baby got 'em up open all over town  
Strictly biz, she don't play around  
Cover much ground, got game by the pound_

_Getting paid is a forte  
Each and every day, true player way  
I can't get her out of my mind  
I think about the girl all the time…_

The two of them were feeling the song as they both bopped their heads in key with the music.

_I like the way you work it  
(No diggity)  
I got to bag it up  
(Bag it up)_

_I like the way you work it  
(No diggity)  
I got to bag it up  
(Bag it up, girl)_

"You wanna go another round Brandon?" He asked his friend as he bounced the ball around.

"Sure, hopefully I'll beat you this time."

"I want to play too!" They heard a voice behind them and saw who it was.

"Aww Shanice, what you want?" Damien didn't want to be bothered by her.

Shanice was one of the residents of the same public housing that Damien and Brandon lived at. She was a ten-year-old badger that loved to tease the two boys, mostly Damien, much to their disdain.

"I said I wanted to play, are you hard of hearing or something?" She sassed.

"Take your ugly self somewhere else, girl."

She stomped over to him and poked his chest with her finger. "I know you not talking about anyone being ugly. You have Dumbo ears, you short, and those dreads make you look like a mop."

Brandon snickered while Damien rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Girl, go somewhere, I don't need you harassing me!"

But Shanice wasn't having it. She smacked the basketball out of his hands and got a hold of it.

"Give me back my ball, dammit!" He said has he chased behind her trying to get it.

The badger just stuck her tongue out at the meerkat and kept dribbling the ball and dodging him with ease. Poor Damien, when it came to Shanice, he didn't stand a chance, especially considering how she had four inches of height on him.

Brandon just leaned against the fence watching amusingly from the sidelines, he took his lollipop and started sucking on it, as if he was at the movie. Damien took notice and shouted at his friend for aid.

"Come on Brandon, help a brother out!" He was feeling a little light-headed from all the running around he was doing, in desperation of getting his ball back.

"Naw, I'm not getting involved." The bear said receiving a dirty look from his friend.

This went on for another five minutes, Damien was panting uncontrollably and sweat was pouring from his face. Shanice barely broke a sweat, she just smiled at him and laughing at how pathetic he looked.

"Girl, I ain't gonna tell you again to give me back my ball!" She shouted in exhaustion and annoyance.

"You want your ball? Then go get it!" And with that she threw it over the fence, with it bouncing a few times and then landing almost in the middle of the street.

"Uggh, you get on my nerves." The meerkat snarled as he ran out of the court to retrieve the ball.

He was almost near the ball until he heard Shanice and Brandon yelled out in fear.

"Damien get outta the street!"

He looked dead at the car that was speeding up to him, very little time to react, just froze in shock. The driver, nearly losing control of the car, slammed on the brakes, with Damien's foot a few inches away from the tire.

The driver of the car jumped out, the female blue-haired vixen had so much fire in her eyes it could have burned through the boy's soul. She walked up to him, with her hands clenched in fists, ready to chew him out.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU RAN OUT INTO THE STREET LIKE THAT?!" The fox got all up in the kid's face berating him.

He didn't say anything at first. He just looked towards his friends, who were just as scared as he was.

"I-I-I'm sorry…I didn't m-mean to…I'm sorry-" He tried to say but was quickly cut off by the angry vixen.

"I COULD OF HIT YOUR LITTLE STUPID CULO! DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING LOCO YOU LOOKED STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET LIKE THAT! " She continued her rant.

"Damn…lady I said I was sorry." He muttered, looking away from the vixen, pushing her to the edge and that's when she snatched the little meerkat kid by his shirt, he was really afraid now.

"LADY?! OH HELL NO?! I'M A GODDAMN COP LITTLE BOY!" She shoved the badge in the kid's face. That sent fearful shivers to his spine, and his friends were just stunned by the whole seen.

She just eyed the boy in contempt.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again, you hear me?"

He nodded frighteningly. "Y-y-yes Officer."

"Now get your little ghetto ass out of the street." She hissed at Damien and he scurried back to the court to his friends, watching the vixen hop back into her car and sped off.

An awkward silence fell between the three kids until Brandon finally spoke up.

"DDDDDDDaaaammmmnnn, she told you off…she was cute though." Brandon smiled at the thought of her.

"Shut up." Damien lowly said in anger as he dribbled his basketball.

"Maybe next time, you'll remember to look both ways before crossing the street." Shanice teased.

"Shut the hell up before I snatch your beads out your hair!" He yelled.

Brandon and Shanice chuckled at the meerkat. He ignored the two of them and continued to shoot hoops to suppress his rage.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks again for the support, I appreciate it! I see Damien had a little run in with Carmelita Fox. We'll get back to him later because he'll be a part of this story as time goes on. In the next chapter, we'll take a look at Carmelita's family and her constant thoughts of Sly. While in the meantime, Sly and the gang they'll be hanging out in New York and getting ready for their heist soon in the next chapter or so. Thanks again! Leave a comment. Oh, btw, the song is by BlackStreet "No Diggity".  
**


	9. Mi Familia

Carmelita was driving down the road. It's 3:46 P.M. She was almost near her mother's house. She was still irate by that meerkat kid's actions but also a little disgruntled because she almost did run him over. But what really bothered her was his attitude.

"Dios, I can't believe the nerve of that kid. These little bastardos are acting up. Some of them need a good beating."

She just shook her head. Despite being only twenty-four-years-old, she sometimes felt she was a little out of touch with the things going on in today's world. She believed she was an old soul, like she's been here before, even her father had told her this on a few occasions, he definitely admired her maturity. Then again, she spent the first ten years of her life in South Bronx, which was very difficult for her but she had no choice but to grow up fast. The environment that she was in wasn't child oriented, you either pulled yourself together or you just remained on the ground. Fortunately, they left that area and moved to a much safer place, mostly because her father got a promotion. She just sighed, she missed him so much.

Carmelita pulled up to her old home, which still looked the same as it did when she left. It was two stories high, it was painted light blue, and the window panes and sills were still white.

"Home sweet home." That's all she said as she stepped out of the car.

She walked up to the door and rang the door bell.

She heard the locks click and the door opened to reveal an older vixen.

"Carmelita, mi hija! Mami's so happy to see you!" Her mother pulled her into a hug and kissed her daughter.

"It's nice to see you too Mami." She was blushing.

Carmelita followed her mother into the house. Her mother went straight to the kitchen. She saw her brother Cameron playing Playstation in the living room. He turned to her and smiled.

"Carm, what's up sis?" He got up and greeted her with a hug.

"It's nice to see you too hermano."

She was amazed at how tall her brother had gotten since she last saw him. He was now a nineteen-year-old college student. He wore overalls, a Coogi shirt, and white Nikes, he even wore earrings. He never dressed like this before. She thought that now he that he grown into his features, he was trying to be a little mack. Despite his wardrobe, he looked so much like their father. He had their dad's orange-brown fur and messy dark-brown head fur. It made her sad to know that he wasn't here to see how much Cameron grew.

"Sis, I know I'm cute and all but can you please stop staring at me like that?" He said in jest and she lightly punched his arm.

"Oh shut up you peste!"

He smiled at Carmelita. "I missed you so much sis, how's life in France?"

"My life is pretty hectic considering my workload but overall its fine. So how's your second year in college?"

"It's all good, I like my classes this semester and there's a girl I've been trying to get at for a while." He grinned as he went back to play video games.

She just shook her head at her brother's new confidence. "You're a little charmer now huh?"

"Naw, I'm still the same old kid I've always been." He replied still concentrating on the game.

"What are you playing?"

"Oh, this new game called Crash Bandicoot. Want to play?" Cameron offered.

Carmelita was about to answer until her mother called her to the kitchen. She walked in and noticed her mother was busy preparing food, there were utensils and food scattered across the counters as well as grocery bags on the floor. Her mother rushing from the table chopping vegetables to the pots on the stove, making sure nothing burned. The aroma from the pots made Carmelita nostalgic, thinking back on when she was a kid when her mother was cooking while her father was reading the newspaper and her and her brother were running around the house like maniacs.

"Mi hija, can you please up set up the table for me?"

"Sure Mami. I see you cooked a lot of food." She said as she grabbed the plates and silverware.

"Oh dear, I forgot to tell you, your Uncle Luis and Aunt Rita and their kids are coming over later."

_" Oh boy." _She thought, already dreading the idea.

"That's great Mami." She said, trying to hide her disgust.

Later on, around 5 P.M., Carmelita's Uncle and Aunt, as well as their kids Luca and Jaime, arrived at the house. Everyone greeted each other and whatnot. No one really conversed yet because dinner was ready and that's when things took an "interesting" turn…

Everyone took their place at the dining room table. There was food covering every inch of the table. There was Arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), Garbanzos (chickpeas), hot Oxtails, bowls of steamy cabbage and spinach. There were also fried plantains and yucca fries, and pasteles (it's like a tamale). Everyone said a prayer and began to eat. It was a peaceful and quiet meal at first until Carmelita's Uncle Luis opened his mouth.

"So Carmelita, how's France?" He said as he chewed on his oxtail.

"Umm, it's fine, same old, same old, just busting criminals left and right." She reluctantly answered.

Her Uncle eyed her, contemplated his next question.

"So, have you been out with anyone lately?"

"I've dated a few times but I haven't found the right one yet. Besides, with my job taking up most of my time it can be pretty difficult." She took a sip of lemonade.

Her Uncle shook her head in disappointment.

"Dios Carmelita! At this rate you'll never get married."

She nearly choked from her beverage as she heard that and coughed a bit, with Cameron patting her back. When she recovered, she spoke.

"Uncle, I have plenty of time to worry about that later. I mean I'm only twenty-four." She said as polite as possible.

"You may be young now but eventually you're gonna keep putting it off until you're one day over fifty, alone, with no children. Is that the kind of life you want? That's the problem with you young women today. You women are too busy with working and trying to outdo men instead of doing what God intended for you to do. Get married, stay at home, and raise children."

Everyone, except Aunt Rita, even the children, turned their attention to Uncle Luis. Carmelita began to turn bright red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, to say she was appalled was an understatement.

"Luca and Jaime, go outside and play." Carmelita's mother motion the two children to leave the table.

When they were out of site, the adults at the dining room table went right back to the conversation at hand, it was definitely not over.

"Luis, how could you fix your mouth to say something like that?" Carmelita's mother asked.

"Now Brenda, I'm just being realistic, a woman needs to stay in a woman's place. I don't approve of Carmelita's choices in life, isn't that right Rita?"

Aunt Rita nodded but didn't speak.

"Look, I don't care if you disapprove what I do with my life, I'm not a child, I am a grown woman and I can do whatever I want." Carmelita expressed, showing no hesitation. Cameron was hold her hand to calm her down.

"See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. This is why you need a man, you need to be put in check for your back talk." He shook his head as he shoveled rice in his mouth.

Carmelita had reached her breaking point. Uncle or not, she was not going to allow him to talk to her like she was beneath him. She opened her mouth to speak until her brother rose from his chair and interjected to defend her.

"I've had enough of your vile sexist comments towards my sister. What she does with her life has nothing to do with you. Get with the times, we are not in the '50s anymore, this is the '90s. I would step off if I were you." Cameron spoke in a low, mature tone, looking at the older fox in mild disgust.

Unfazed, the Uncle just wiped his mouth and also stood up from the table, looking right into the younger foxes eyes.

"You think you're a man, mi sobrino? I see that you growing up with two women in the household made you soft. You are a little boy, nothing more."

"If my father was alive today, he would be proud of me and Carmelita, and especially our mother. He would also agree that at age nineteen, I am more of a man than you'll ever be. Any person who thinks or speaks the way you do don't even deserve to be called a man. Look at the way you treat your own wife, she doesn't even look at you in your eyes. Your mentality is not needed here, you have overstayed your stay. Now get the hell out of our house." The younger fox pointed to the door.

The older fox just laughed.

"You are weak and you will learn one day, sobrino. Rita go get the kids." His wife did what she was told with head down in shame.

After Uncle Luis and his family left, the three of them finished their meal, cleaned up, and sat outside in the backyard patio. Not much was said between the three for a while until Carmelita spoke.

"Hermano, I want to thank you very much for defending me." She said humbly as she gave her brother a small kiss on the cheek.

"It was nothing Carm, it was the right thing to do. I wasn't going to allow him to talk that way to you or Mami." He hugged both his sister and mother.

"I just can't believe he said those things." Their mother finally spoke up. "I see why your father rarely had us visiting his brother, he's loco. I feel sorry for his wife and kids."

They all nodded in agreement.

"I am proud of the two you and so is your father. I bet he's looking down on us right now, smiling." She said as she held her children close to her, looking up at the reddish-purple evening sky.

Carmelita was heading back to the hotel in Yonkers. She could have spent the night at home but she needed some space to herself right now. She was still a little shaken by the incident at dinner but she was blessed to have a brother like Cameron. She had never seen that side of him before. Cameron was normally playful and laid-back so to see how he stood up to their misogynistic Uncle with dignity and no fear made her realize how much he really grew up. Whether he was there physically or spiritually, she knew she could count on her brother to make her feel better.

As Carmelita drove down the highway, thoughts of Sly emerged. She still hasn't seen the Raccoon since that time in the alley, where was he and what other plans could he have up his sleeve? She couldn't answer those question, she pretty clueless at that point. She hoped that he wasn't in New York, then again why, unless he knew about the Sword of The Samurai. She shook the ridiculous thought out of her head.

_"Impossible. Still, I wished that damn Ringtail would stop invading my dreams." _She thought with a bashful smile.

* * *

**A/N- Ok y'all this what I'm going to do. I don't want the chapter to be too long because I know what it's like to read a good story but get a little bored of it because of how drawn it can get after a while. So I decided to post this for now and then post another chapter later on today, but be aware this is subject to change and maybe all end up posting the whole thing in one chapter, but more than likely I may not for now. The next chapter will be about Sly and Damien, this chapter as well as the next happens all in one night.**


	10. Little Boy Nightmares

**A/N: Long Chapter.**

* * *

Thirty minutes away on the other side of The Bronx, Sly and his gang arrived back to Dimitri's apartment. They had a very festive day to say the least.

"Oh wow what a day!" Murray exclaimed as he sat on the couch and turned the T.V. on. "It's times like this where I wished we lived here again! That buffet was so good, I didn't want to leave."

"You said the same thing when we later went to our old spot, Nathan's HotDogs." Sly stated.

"Yeah, Nathan's was good too, same as I remembered it and playing at the arcade was even better!"

"Yeah, it was quite a day. Going to that science convention and witnessing all those advanced gadgets was definitely a joy to see." Bentley said as he took his laptop out and did his usual hobby.

"OOOHHH, you homeslices are cool! The day was off the chain, I haven't had this much fun in awhile. Cracker-box, Turtle-dude, and Hippo-boy, the three of you are straight up awesome." Dimitri chimed in.

"It was a good day. I managed to pickpocket those uppity selfish jerks at that Yonkers Racetrack we were at, boy was that something! I figured those mean people didn't need their cash." Sly giggled a bit as he walked over to Dimitri and started tickling the Iguana.

"Yo Cracker-box! Stop it homie!" He said between fits of laughter.

Sly ignored him and continued messing with him as Bentley and Murray giggled at the two.

"I'll stop if say 'Sly is the greatest thief ever'."

Dimitri looked at the Raccoon as if he lost his mind and scoffed.

"Please Cracker-box you play too much. We may be friends but I'll never bow down to you homeboy!"

He smiled at him vainly and then sprang onto Dimitri and pinned him down to the floor.

"Okay, since you didn't listen to me the first time around, I'm just gonna sit on you until you say it."

But Dimitri simply pushed the Raccoon off of him. He briefly forgot that Dimitri was bigger than him, even if Sly worked out often. Sly stood up and the gang couldn't help but laugh.

"Yo Cracker-box, you might have some muscle but you're still a little shrimp." Sly helped him up from the floor.

"I'm gonna play some Nintendo, who wants to join in?" Murray asked.

"Hey, Hey Hippo-Boy you can count me in!" Dimitri lit his cigarette and sat next to the Hippo.

"Sure, just need to do a few things on my laptop and I'll be through." Bentley said.

Murray looked over to Sly. "Hey Sly, you wanna play?"

Sly yawned, realizing he was a little tired. "Naw, you guys have fun without me, I'm gonna snooze for a while. I'll be up later on tonight."

"Ok." The three of them said as Sly headed to the room he shared with Murray and Bentley.

He closed the door behind him and plopped onto the comfy bed.

Despite the not-so-great area, so far there haven't been any real problems. Sure there were few crackheads arguing outside with each other from time to time but for the most part, everything was ok. Still, he would never think to live in this area of the Bronx and he still thought Dimitri was crazy to even consider this spot. They've only been here for a few days and already he felt right at home. Admittedly, he did miss New York very much and the adventures they had today confirmed this. He blinked a few times and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"I'll prove it to you, just watch Daddy." Sly looked up with his chocolate-brown eyes at his father with a mischievous smile.

His father chuckled as he gave his son a kiss. "I'll take your word for it son."

Someone knocked on the door. It started off with a few taps until it grew aggressive. Sly's father removed him off his lap, got up from his lounge chair, and swiftly headed to the door. He looked through the peep-hole and felt his heart drop realizing who the "visitors" were. He immediately ran to the kitchen to alert his wife.

"Lauren, stop what you're doing right now." He demanded, holding his wife's shoulders.

"What's wrong Connor, who's banging at our door like that?" She asked.

"It's _them_."

Sly mother knew what he was talking about and her eye widened in fear. Suddenly, a large brick was thrown at their kitchen window, the shards of glass was all over the floor. The brick barely missed the scared couple; Sly's mother was holding her husband for dear life.

"Go get Sly right now and keep him somewhere safe." He said with urgency as he quickly went to get his cane and his wife followed him.

Sly was still in the living room, frightened because he heard the loud noise in the kitchen. He saw his father and wanted to know what was going on and why the people outside wouldn't stop banging on their door.

"Daddy!"

His father was too busy looking for his cane to even answer him. Sly was alarmed by all the commotion. He just stood in the middle of the floor in confusion, biting his nails.

"_Who's at the door? The cops or is it some bad people out to hurt us?" _So many questions swarming through his mind yet not answers came about.

He saw his mother walk over to him, snatched him up, and pushed him into the living room closet.

"Mama, what's going on?" He asked nervously.

"Hush Sly, don't make a sound. Stay in the closet until me and your father say it's ok." She told him in a stern tone of voice.

"But Mama! I don't under-" Before he could even finish his sentence, his mother pulled him into her embrace, holding him tightly…almost as if to say goodbye…It felt like an eternity but was only a few seconds. She let go of him and brushed his spiky grey head fur, tears were threatening to leave her eyes. Seeing his mother cry was making him upset and the situation wasn't getting any better as the "visitors" were now trying to break the door down. His father approached the two of them, with his cane in hand, and knelt down to his only son.

"Sly…I want you to be a good little boy and stay in the closet, this is not a game. I'm very serious. No matter what happens, your mother and I love very much; don't you ever forget that, understood?"

He nodded to his parents, he felt the hot, salty tears stream down his furry face.

"D-don't forget this, son…T-this is your legacy…It's your turn n-now…" His father's voice was beginning to crack but he showed no facial distress as he handed the Thievius Raccoonus to him.

"I love you Mama and Daddy." Sly finally said. He gave the two one last hug and then hid himself further into the closet as his parents closed it. He was now hidden in darkness and uncertain about anything at this point. Will he ever see his parent's alive again or not? Sly felt the grim reality hit him when he heard the invaders burst into their home and hearing heavy footsteps, making him cringe. All he heard was yelling and it was very hard to make out with everyone speaking all at once until a dark, booming voice bellowed out.

"COOPER! WE HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU! YOU WILL DIE TONIGHT!"

For the next fifteen minutes all he Sly heard were sounds of violence and things in their house being smashed. He dared not peek out there.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sly's eyes widened as he heard the bloodcurdling, agonizing screams of his parents. He whimpered in silence, holding the book of his ancestry close to his chest and involuntarily rocking back and forth. His stomach was hurting him due to anxiety, so he held the book tighter, never stopping his rocking motion. He couldn't wrap his mind around all this. He was hoping it was just a bad dream.

"No…No…No…No…No…" He begged softly in despair.

* * *

"…No…No…No…No…No…"

"Sly! Wake up!" Bentley shook the Raccoon out of his nightmare.

"NO!" Sly sprang up nearly lashing out at the turtle. He was breathing heavily as a look of bewilderment shown on his face. He looked to his turtle friend, who was just taken back by Sly's behavior. Sly rubbed his face, noticing how he was sweating profusely and was feeling overheated so he pulled his shirt off and lied back down.

Dimitri and Murray appeared in the room.

"Whoa Sly, are you ok?"

"Yeah Cracker-box, we heard you chatting in yo sleep dude." Dimitri added.

"Sly, please say something, you had us worried." Bentley was getting concerned with the lack of response from the Raccoon.

"I'm…I'm…ok…I just had a nightmare…no big deal." He tried his best to play it off by showing his cocky grin but his friends weren't fooled.

"Sly you were whimpering in your sleep. Now you're drenched in sweat and disoriented yet you expect us to believe you're ok?" Bentley didn't have time for Sly's little facade; he needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Umm, I need to be alone with Sly for a minute, if you two don't mind."

Murray and Dimitri simply shrugged, although they too were wondering what was up with Sly.

"Ok." Murray said. "Holler if you need us." And the two of them headed back to the living room and closed the door behind them.

Now it was just Sly and Bentley in the room. Sly knew he was going to be interrogated. He had to try his best to reassure Bentley that he was fine. He was not exactly in the mood to open up about his nightmares or the things that have been on in his mind lately.

The turtle adjusted his wheelchair and cleaned his glasses.

"What time is it?" The Raccoon didn't know why he asked.

"It's 8:12 P.M." Bentley said figuring out where to go with the conversation.

"Sly," He began wearily. "I…I know there's something wrong, you can't hide it from me."

Sly got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash his face, Bentley followed.

"Your behavior has been abnormal lately. It's like ever since our plans for this heist began, you seem to have nightmares a lot, I've heard you whining in your sleep."

After Sly finished washing his face, he turned to his friend, attempting to be his usual self.

"Bentley, I appreciate your concern, really I do. But, right now, I just have a lot on my mind, I'll be ok."

He walked back to the room and found a shirt to put on and then his jacket, Nikes, and hat. He also grabbed his cane.

Bentley was carefully trying to find a way to spit it out what he wanted to ask. He wheeled himself closer to his friend, with his friend's back turned to him.

"Does this have anything…to do with your parents?" The question was barely above a whisper, but Sly heard it clearly because his ears twitched and he just stood there. Bentley felt the blood drain from his face, he quickly regretted bringing it up.

Sly faced his friend with a dark glare. It was so uncharacteristic of Sly to where it was creepy, almost like he was possessed.

"This has nothing to do with my parents. Don't even drag them into this." He said in a low dry tone and walked out of the room.

"Where are you going Sly?" Bentley asked worriedly as he followed him out of the room. Murray and Dimitri were curious as to what was going on.

"Sly?" Bentley continued.

Sly had his hand on the door knob and sighed in irritation as his face pressed against the door.

"I need some air, I'll be back soon." He turned the door knob and rushed out, slamming the door behind him.

Everyone was in utter shock.

"What the hell just happened?" Murray looked over to Bentley who said nothing and just stared off into space.

* * *

In Yonkers in the Public Housing area, Damien and his grandmother were in the kitchen eating dinner. The kitchen was pretty small barely four people could walk in there, the walls was painted yellow and white showing signs of aging as there were a few cracks appearing. For dinner they had collard greens, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, baked chicken, and cornbread. Damien loved his grandmother's cooking but he refused to eat collard greens, he couldn't stand the texture or the taste of it. He was just moving it around with his fork.

"Damien, boy you better eat them greens." She admonished her grandson.

"Aww, grandma, you know I hate collard greens, they nasty." He whined as he continued to play with them on his plate.

"Boy hush, you should count your blessings that we even have food. There are kids in this very building who would be thankful to eat them collard greens on your plate. Don't be selfish."

The little meerkat lowered his head and pouted. His grandmother was trying to guilt him into eating although he couldn't deny how right she was, there were families even poorer than his. Still, he refused to eat them.

His grandmother felt little bad for doing that so she came up with another idea.

"Look Damey, if you eat all your green and wash the dishes without me telling you more than once, you can have some ice cream."

His little face lit up at the word "ice cream", and then he grimaced at his plate and slowly ate the greens. He despised the taste but if it meant getting ice cream it was worth it.

When he was finished, he quickly went gather the dishes, then grabbed a stool (because he couldn't reach the sink), and began washing them.

Once he was finish, Damien ran to his grandmother's side with a huge smile on his face.

He grandmother gave him an amusing smile and walked over to the refrigerator and then served him his favorite, Mint Chocolate Chip. He sat at the table, anticipating for his treat. As soon as she placed the bowl in front of him, he went straight to eating it, he already had ice cream on face.

"Thanks grandma, you the greatest grandma ever."

She just smiled.

He continued enjoying his ice cream as his grandmother looked on. Her smile faded into sadness.

* * *

It was 9:15 P.M. and Sly was cruising down on the electrical wires, the fall breeze coursing through his rough fur. He jumped off and grabbed onto the nearest streetlight, climbing it and then crouching upon the very top. He looked out into the streets of Yonkers, he was surprised that so little activity was going on tonight, especially on a Saturday night. There were still people out and about but not as much as he thought it would be. Maybe by ten it'll start to get interesting. A sense of freedom stir within his chest, doing what he did best, sneaking and hiding, even when he's not up to anything, was somewhat alleviating.

He slid down the streetlight and headed to the nearest fire escape, without anyone noticing him. He climbed all the way up swiftly and once he reached the building, he held his arms out and inhaled the cool night air. Sly looked over the city, seeing the mixture of colorful lights and hearing the engine of cars and people talking outside, brought out a strange wave of nostalgia and fearfulness.

He abruptly broke into a fit of laughter, he honestly didn't know what was wrong with him. He wasn't sure what to think anymore. Did he make the right choice coming here or was this all a bad idea? In contrast to his laughter, he was now miserable and a nervous-wreck. The demons of his childhood were winning the battle and slowly consuming him. He tried his best to conceal it from his friends. They didn't need to know, but he learned earlier how worried they were, especially Bentley, he felt guilty for the way he treated him he was only trying to help.

"Snap out of it! You're Sly Cooper, the devious, cunning, and secretive master thief. And the same thief that's getting that sword and making his friends proud of him, as well as make them a lot of money." He hopelessly convinced himself of this.

So why did he feel like he was regressing back to Sly, the little naïve and scared child, who lost everything he knew and almost lost himself to the streets?

Adding to his sexual frustrations and the explicit dreams of Carmelita to the mix, he was even more lost. Lost in childhood trauma and sexual repression, he had to get a hold of himself. If he didn't, he was going to explode. He has not seen Carmelita in a while and he thought it was crazy how much the woman was playing within his mind. He wanted so badly to see her again, to hold her, to kiss her, and to admit his love for her. Of course if he did see her again she would be quick to chase after him. It was a shame that the two of them were at the opposite ends of the law.

"Am I really falling for her?" He questioned himself.

He looked outward to the city, the moon was nowhere to be seen, neither were the stars.

"There's no way she'll go for a guy like me." He concluded as his ears flatten.

He swung his cane around hitting the bricked edge of the roof as an outlet for his stress.

* * *

Later on that night around 11:45 P.M., Damien was tossing and turning in his sleep. He was six-years-old again. He was with his father, who greeted him with a warm, paternal smile. Then gunshots rang out, six-year-old Damien feebly covered himself. When the shots ceased, he opened his eyes to see his father lifelessly in a pool of his own rich dark blood. The metallic smell of it was making him nauseous and he heard the laughter of a madman, echoing in his ears.

Damien sprang up and screamed at the top his lungs.

"DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!"

This caught the attention of his grandmother, who rushed to his room. She saw how much her grandson was trembling and fear-stricken he was.

"It's ok Damien, grandma's here."

"Grandma…"

His grandmother pulled him into her embrace, cradling him and the little meerkat broke into a fit of sobs. His face was hot with tears and he started to cough violently, she patted his back to stop him from coughing.

"Daddy…Daddy…" he mumbled through his cries.

"Grandma's here. It's gonna be ok."

She sang him an old song that her mother used to sing to her as a child. She half sung and half hummed it, in order to soothe him. When he calmed down a bit she put him back down onto his bed and placed the covers on him. She wanted to get a rag and some water for him.

"Grandma, don't leave me…please." Damien sleepily said in desperation. Tears still ran down his face with his arms reaching for her.

She hushed him and ran her fingers through his short dreads.

"I'll be back don't worry, baby."

She walked out for a few minutes and came back with a cool, wet rag and a cup of water. She softly dragged the rag around his face and neck to wipe the sweat off him and to keep him cool.

"Drink this baby." She lifted him up so he can drink and then handed the empty cup to her. He lied on his stomach and tried to go back to sleep. She rubbed his back to keep him from trembling so much, his eyes flickered a bit but eventually he fell asleep. She waited for a few minutes just in case he woke up but he didn't so she quietly left the room.

The grandmother, Lucy Jones, was sitting on her lounge chair in deep thought. This was the third time Damien was having nightmares of his father. He had them shortly after his father died and even though they stopped as time went on, evidently they were now returning to haunt him. Grandma Jones knew he needed help, as traumatic as his father's death was for her grandson, but she couldn't afford it then and she definitely couldn't afford it now.

Grandma Jones looked over at the table near her with bills piling up. Every day she worried as to how she was going to take care of Damien. She also feared for his future if something happened to her. She had to stop working about a year ago due to health-related reasons. Although she had benefits, it could only go so far for the two of them. She put her face into her hands until she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Who could that be at this hour?"

She shuffled to the door and looked through peep-hole. She knew who it was and just sighed as she reluctantly opened the door, revealing a young female meerkat, with her hair disheveled, looking side to side in paranoia.

The younger woman attempted a weak smile. "Hey mama."

Grandma Jones looked at her daughter plainly.

"Melissa, girl do you know what time it is?"

The younger woman twitched, rubbing her arm.

"I was just in the neighborhood and decided to see how you were."

The older woman knew better and was not buying her daughter's reasons.

"If you're asking for money, I don't have any." She said and motioned to close the door.

Melissa stopped her.

"No-no, I…I just want to see my baby."

The older woman examined her closely and realized how disoriented she was.

"You are not coming in her looking like that. And besides, Damien is asleep."

"Please mama, I just want to see him. I think about him all the time." She implored.

"When are you gonna grow up Melissa?" Grandma Jones was losing her patience. "You have not seen your child in months and now you decide to show up late at night? I'm also having a very hard time believing that Damien was on your mind while you were out getting high and tricking off men."

Her daughter's lip started to quiver as her eyes glazed over.

"N-n-now…d-d-don't b-be insulting me…"

"Insulting you? Child, I'm telling it like it is. I have tried to get you help and every time you slip up. The last time Damien was in your custody, you left him alone in a crackhouse. Do you really think I trust you even now to be around him?!" The older meerkat's voice grew louder.

"Please, I just want to see him." She avoided her mother's glare.

Grandma Jones put her hand up.

"I love you Melissa but I am not gonna let you hurt him anymore than you already have. That child has been through enough and unless you completely get yourself off of drugs and get a job, you are not going _anywhere_ near him. Goodnight." She closed the door in her daughter's face.

Melissa stood there for a moment and then trudged down the hall of the building with her head down and then fell to her knees, weeping.

* * *

**A/N: Hey Guys thanks for the support! I appreciate it. BTW, the dream that Sly has is a continuation from chapter 7 just so people won't be confused or whatever. I know this chapter is long but if I added Carmelita's part, it would have been even longer and I didn't want to do that. Anyway, the next chapter will be about Sly and his gangs finally going on their heist…until destiny has other plans. Stay tuned. **


	11. Destiny Has Other Plans

**A/N: This may be subject to change. Still. Enjoy.**

* * *

It was Wednesday at 2:45 P.M. Sly and his gang were going over the heist once more. Sly was in a much better mood compared to how his was last Saturday. Even though his mind was still occupied with the same issues he had having for a while, he was able to handle it a little better. He did apologize to Bentley for his behavior but the turtle didn't fret much about it, he was just keeping a lookout for his Raccoon friend.

Sly and the gang didn't do much since Saturday, sure they went to stores and whatnot, Sly even got to pickpocket several times but they mostly stayed in Dimitri's apartment, more so not to attract attention. They were all in the living room, listening to Bentley prattle on excitedly.

"Ok you guys, this is what's gonna happen. Dimitri is of course our getaway driver and just in case something goes wrong, he'll be back up."

"Oh yeah Turtle-dude, you ain't gotta worry about nothing. I'm strapped!" Dimitri said proudly.

"Umm…good. Murray, you already know you're the muscle and the lookout. Try to help out Sly as much as you can buddy and if someone gets in the way, do what you do best!"

"The Murray will not let you guys down!" He said as he cracked his knuckles.

"I, Bentley, will be in the van giving updates and doing my best to disengage any security devices through my hack expertise."

"Last but not least, Sly. All you have to do is find an air vent and I'll lead you into the museum. Once you're finally in the main lobby, you either have to find the largest room or the storage room, it depends. I looked up some info about the sword; apparently it's going to be displayed Friday evening, so keep those places in mind. However, once you find the sword, don't walk in the room right away. Give me time to disarm the alarms and whatnot. But with that being said, there's always a small chance in which I may not be able to. So, if that happens, find another way around the security or destroy it yourself if you can."

"Right Bentley." Sly nodded.

"When you get your hands on the Sword, still be aware, we don't want you to trip off anything that went undetected. Then, find another air vent that will lead you out the museum and we'll be out there waiting for you."

"That's all good, Bentley." Sly said with a cool smile.

"Alrightly then. So we're ready you guys?" Bentley asked.

"Woo, Dimitri is always on the ball!" Dimitri exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm pumped up." Murray flexed his muscles. "But can we get lunch first?"

* * *

Damien was at the playground near his building. He usually played basketball with Brandon at the court across the street but today they decided to hang out at the playground. They were hanging from the monkey bars. Shanice was swinging on the swings, laughing in glee. There were other kids having a good time also, some were on the merry-go-around, some jumped rope, there were even some kids gathered around freestyling (rapping).

"Yo Damien, look what I can do kid!" Brandon shouted. He pulled himself up onto the bars and swung back and forth by his legs, hanging upside down.

"Phhs, Brandon that's so lame. I can do that too." He sneered and performed the same trick as him.

"See Brandon." He said as he stuck his tongue at him.

"I did it first."

"Whatever man."

"Copycat."

"Fucking dummy."

"Y'all look so damn stupid." A voice interrupted.

The boys turned to see it was Shanice always trying to tease them.

"Aww, Shanice! Go play on the fucking swings and leave us alone." Damien snapped as he and Brandon pulled themselves up onto the monkey bars and then dropped down to the ground.

"Dang Damey, why you gotta be that way?" She asked with her hands on her hips. Damien walked up to her looking dead in her eyes.

"Girl, you had better leave me alone." The badger just pushed the meerkat out the way, nearly losing his balance. He forgot that she was taller than him. His bear friend giggled at the two.

"Don't be trying to get all up in my face little boy."

"Then leave me alone."

Suddenly, Shanice snatched his cap off and wore it.

"Uggh, why you always gotta steal my shit?" He angrily raised his voice at her as he tried to take it off her head.

"You gotta catch me first, Damey." She taunted him and with that she broke out sprinting.

"Uggh, she gets on my nerves." Damien cried and went after her.

Brandon just shook his head and watched the two running all over the playground. Some kids took noticed and laughed while other just merely glanced and went back to their activities. Shanice climbed up the playground set and things become even more difficult for Damien to catch up. Going over the wooden bridge, sliding down the pole, going down the slide, it was practically an obstacle course for him and not a fun one at that.

"Man, just give it back! This is how I got into trouble the last time!" Still chasing her.

"That was your fault, Damey. Look both ways before crossing the street, dummy. " She retorted and gave him a slick smile.

Finally, he was able to reach her and take his hat back. He was exhausted from all the running he was doing but he was glad to retrieve his hat.

"Stupid!" He shouted. Shanice just giggled.

"I had fun, Damey. Unfortunately, I have to go home. Bye."

"Stop calling me Damey!" But the badger was no longer within earshot to hear him. The meerkat went back to where his bear friend was, who just smiled.

"Brandon you idiot, I thought you were my friend. You let her embarrass me again." He went back to climbing the monkey bars.

"Yo kid, whatever you got between you and her got nothing to do with me." The bear simply stated as he leaned back on the poles.

"Ain't nothing going on between me and that stupid girl!" The meerkat spat back.

"Damn man calm down."

"Yo what's up little homies?" They heard a low, rough voice call out.

The two boys turned to see it was and they immediately had the person's undivided attitude. He wore dark sunglasses, black leather jacket, jeans, and boots. They were a little scared by the mysterious stranger.

"Hey it's me." He said as he took his glasses off.

"Silas?" The two kids said in unison.

"The one and only. Now give me a hug." The Jackal said cheerfully. Damien got off the monkey bars and him and Brandon both hugged him.

"Yo Silas, how you been man?" Brandon asked.

"I've been ok. How's your mom Brandon?"

"Good."

"What about you little Dame? How's your grandmother?"

"She's fine man. Ay man, where you been? We haven't seen you in a while."

The three of them walked together for a bit and sat on a bench on the other side of the playground. Silas was a friend of Damien's father and an acquaintance of Brandon's mother. He looked out for Damien's family since his father was no longer around. Damien was just really glad to see him, especially since he hasn't seen him since the summer.

"Yeah, I had to handle some business in California, but I'm gonna be here for a while little man. Maybe I'll take ya'll to Coney Island." The Jackal tousled the meerkat's dreads.

"That'll be cool. But man, I'm just glad you're here."

They talked for a while. Silas asked them about school and what was going on in the neighborhood, then onto the subject of movies and video games. A thought came to Brandon's mind.

"Hey Silas, look what me and Damien can do on the monkey bars!"

The two boys run over to the monkey bars with Silas following them but stopped when he noticed a beige Cadillac rode up, with the window down, with someone aiming a gun at him. He fearlessly pulled out his own gun…

* * *

Sly and the gang were in Yonkers, wasting some time until they proceed with their heist later on in the evening. It was around 4:30 P.M. and everyone was in Dimitri's black SUV, just riding around and finishing the rest of their meal.

"The Murray was so hungry, I thought I was gonna pass out." Murray said as he bit into his cheeseburger.

"Murray, you're always hungry." Bentley noted.

"Yeah I am." And everyone laughed.

They rode down the street, looking at the urban area, it wasn't as bad as Dimitri's area but nonetheless, it was obviously a Public Housing area.

"Yo Cracker-box and friends, is this where y'all lived at?"

"We didn't live in this exact area but it wasn't far from here." Sly responded. They continued their ride for a while until Sly motioned Dimitri to stop the car.

"Hey Cracker-box, what's up?" Dimitri was a little surprised as well as Bentley and Murray.

Sly noticed a playground full of kids, having fun and wrapped up in their own world. He rolled his window down to have a better look. He remembered this playground very well, He and his friends used to come and play here from time to time when they were kids. A wave of nostalgia rushed through his mind.

"I remember this playground. I see not much has changed." Murray looked on.

"Definitely." Was all Bentley said and drank his soda.

"I see the little kiddies are having a bomb-diggity blast." Dimitri commented.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go and play. Who wants to join me?"

"Sly are you serious?" Bentley cocked his eye at the Raccoon.

Murray simply laughed. "You're a grown man. Those kids will look at you crazy."

"Yo, you can go somewhere with all that kiddy shit." The Iguana crossed his arms.

"Come on you guys you know I'm a kid at heart. Where's the harm in having a little fun?" Sly asked in a child-like manner as he opened the car door.

Bentley was about to answer until he saw a suspicious looking beige Cadillac driving down the street and started spraying bullets. Sly's heart dropped as he heard the sounds of gunfire roaring in the air, he quickly closed the door.

"GET DOWN!" Sly yelled.

The four of them bent over in their seats, hoping to not get hit. They continued to hear more gunshots ranging out, and the sounds of children screaming in panic. Sly, although he wasn't a very religious man, prayed that no child was harmed. He dared not to look up as much as he wanted to.

The Cadillac sped off down the street. Sly got a good look at the car and managed to get the license plate number, committing it to his memory. He jumped out the car and ran over to the playground.

"I'm gonna check to make sure no one got hurt."

"Me too." Murray followed and the two split up.

The whole playground was eerily empty and silent; it made Sly shiver in uncertain fear.

Then he stumbled over something he dreaded the most. He saw a Jackal lying on the ground with a gun in his hand. Sly concluded that he was the target. He had several bullet embedded in his arms, chest, and legs. Crimson red blood gushed out of him uncontrollably. Sly checked the Jackal's pulse on his neck and his body flushed in a horrifying realization that the Jackal was dead. It nearly sent him over the edge when flashbacks of his parents' corpses appeared in his mind. He stared off into space for a moment's time until Murray called out.

"Sly! Sly! Come quick!" He belted from the other side.

Sly ran over to Murray and saw him trying to coax someone out from under the playground set, he heard fits of sobbing.

"Come here kid, we won't hurt you, please come out." Sly gently reassured whoever was under there. A little brown furry hand appeared and out crawl a terrified bear child, still crying.

"It's ok." Sly said as he reached for the little bear and picked him up. He examined him to make sure he was ok, he was clearly shaken but unharmed. Sly was relieved until the boy told him what he feared the most.

"M-m-my friend-d-d is under t-t-there, h-h-he g-got shot!" The child shrieked, stumbling over his words.

Sly gave Murray the frightened child, bent down and found a young meerkat child, who appeared to be unconscious, with two bullet wounds, one in his leg and another in his arm. He was also bleeding from his head, probably due to hitting his head, he must have fell or something. He grabbed the child and checked his pulse.

"He's alive!" He exclaimed and looked down at the young meerkat, rubbing his face.

"It's gonna be ok, little one." He whispered, the child grunted in pain but was still unconscious.

"Murray let me hold the other kid, I'm taking them to the car."

Then he cautiously whispered in the Hippo's ear, so the little bear wouldn't hear.

"There's a dead body over on the other side, I need you to go get him and put his body in trunk."

Murray wearily nodded and went over to get the body. Sly was nearing the SUV with the two kids in his arms. He let the bear sit in the backseat, who was still in shock and in tears, but Bentley coddled the child. Sly got into the passenger's side with the meerkat kid.

"Whoa! Cracker-box what the fuck happened, homie?!" Dimitri shouted as he saw the little meerkat in the Raccoon's hands.

"Open the trunk, Dimitri." He said grimly. "I don't have time to explain right now, we need to get this kid to the hospital." Something dawned on him and he swiftly ripped off pieces of cloth and wrapped it around the kid's arm and leg, to stop the bleeding, then wiped the blood from his head.

Murray picked up the body with ease and put it in the trunk. Before he slammed it shut, he just looked at the lifeless Jackal. He was becoming overwhelmed with sadness and sympathy but he composed himself and shut the trunk and hopped into the SUV.

"Step on it Dimitri." Sly stated unemotionally. Dimitri nodded, and they drove off speeding down the rode.

"Bentley, I need you to look up some information on that Cadillac. The license plate number is 932 H56J."

"No problem, Sly." Bentley whipped out his laptop and typed away.

The bear child was still shaking and Murray noticed this and patted the boy's shoulder.

"It's gonna be alright kid, your friend is gonna be ok." He soothed the bear child.

"Yeah, it's gonna be ok, don't worry." Sly added as he looked down at the poor little meerkat cradled in his arms, the child was barely breathing. He had to be no older than eight or nine.

"_As soon as I find those fucking bastards that did this, they're gonna pay!" _He mused in fury.

* * *

**A/N: Oh dear, a lot of things just happened and now the gang has to race to the hospital to save Damien, so much for their heist. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading!  
**


	12. The Aftermath

**A/N: Long chapter. This may be subject to change. But still enjoy. Please Leave A Comment!  
**

* * *

…_Low profile, rap style, slick as Nu Nile  
Give the crew pounds everytime we cover new grounds  
Still surviving but there's a few down, back in the essence  
I'm asking questions on the phone, with jail adolescents  
Quiet confession, the system's applying the pressure  
My mind is guessing, is living and dying a lesson?  
But not to be obliged with the mirage  
of cars taking you off track  
from with the gods focus on hard  
Laid up smoking cigars  
Motioning maids to bring me toast and eggs…_

Damien opened his eyes and registered his surroundings. He was outside his building. The music he heard was coming from someone's car, blasting loudly at its volume limit.

…_Street dreamer  
Oh mercy, mercy me  
Ain't nothing I got for ya  
Situations get heavy  
Heavy, heavy  
Trying to be a gangster…_

He walked down the sidewalk, having no idea where to go, but apparently his legs seem to know where to take him. As Damien walked, he spotted Brandon and Shanice chatting away, noticing that he was approaching them.

"Hey Damien." Brandon gave him a pound.

"Damey! Damey!" Shanice squealed in delight as she teasingly pulled his tail.

The meerkat just rolled his eyes at the badger but begrudgingly greeted her also then he waved a good bye to them and kept walking.

"Yo man, meet me at the wing shop later!" His bear friend called out.

He walked further down the block, seeing some older kids tagging the buildings. Younger kids across the street were up on the fire escapes and throwing rocks at people passing by. Drug dealers were on the corners, some were just smoking weed, not having a care in the world. Damien didn't pay anyone any mind, he kept to himself. He crossed the street and headed to the basketball court until he saw a familiar face a few feet away from him.

"Silas?" he muttered to himself.

He quickly went over to the Jackel, who was a friend of his father, greeting him with a smile.

"Little Dame, how you living kid?" Silas the Jackal rumpled the meerkat's dreads.

"I'm good." Damien said.

"Your dad was looking for you."

Damien was confused and thought Silas lost a few marbles. The Jackal took notice of this and chuckled.

"I'm for real, he's looking for you. He may be at the playground."

Now Damien was even more lost but nodded at Silas, waving good bye and went on his way to the playground.

He just shook his head, not understand what just happened.

"_Silas must have hit his head or something. My Dad is dead, ain't no way in hell he's at the playground_." He pondered.

But if that was the case, why did he still listen to the Jackal and why was he almost near the playground then? He had no idea what was going on now.

He looked around, viewing his surroundings and realized he was alone. The swings swayed back and forth by the fall breeze. The merry-go-round was still, as well as all the other playground equipment, it was just a bizarre scene to Damien.

He felt someone hovering over him and saw their shadow appearing larger. He turned to face the stranger and was completely startled. He literally thought his jaw would drop to the ground.

"No way…you can't…b-be a-alive…" The meerkat child's voice was cracking, he felt his throat constricting.

There, the person right before him, was the mirror image of him, only taller and much older. The older meerkat was six foot two, stocky, had a thin mustache, and wild dark-brown hair. That was how he remembered his father.

"Hey mi hijo, long time no see." The older meerkat's graveled voice echoed.

Damien gulped in anxiety and shook frantically.

"H-h-hi." He stuttered.

The only thing the meerkat could do was gaze in disbelief. There was no way this was happening.

"Don't just stand there give your old man a hug." His father said.

He didn't need to tell him twice. He ran into his father's embrace and wrapped his arms around the man's waist. He felt warm to the touch as if he was alive. Despite none of this making any sense, he decided to just live in the moment and not question it. They pulled away from each other and his father gave him a comforting smile as he pushed his son's dreads back.

"You grew a little since the last time I saw you."

Damien gave his father a crooked smile but the peaceful reunion was short lived as he heard the sounds of gunshots. Frightened, he covered himself with his arms and closed his eyes. Once they came to a halt, he opened his eyes to see that his father was limp on the ground as blood poured out of his body.

He lost him again.

He fell to his knees as tears were threatening to seep out of his lower eyelids and they did. He didn't make a sound he just let the tears flow down his face. He held his father, ignoring the blood that was staining his clothes.

A huge shadow covered him and he looked up. Damien couldn't make out the stranger's face but he knew who the man was and felt his heart drop as the man's gun clicked and aimed right at his face.

"YOU'RE NEXT KID!" A hysterical laugh followed as he pulled the trigger…

* * *

Damien was lying in the bed, tossing and turning. He tried to remove the oxygen mask from his face and shook his head from side to side. His whimpers went from soft to loud within seconds, catching his grandmother's attention. She immediately got out of the chair and caressed the boy's face and head to calm him down. Eventually, he relaxed and his breathing slowed down.

Since yesterday when he arrived to the hospital, Damien was in and out of sleep. And even when he did awake, he was very disoriented and worn-out. The Doctor told Grandma Jones that he had a minor concussion due to falling and hitting his head when he was shot. However, the good news was the bullets didn't hit any major arteries or bones, they were just flesh wounds. He was going to recover pretty quickly.

Grandma Jones was greatly thankful for Damien being alive, she nearly lost it when she received the call from the hospital that he was injured. She couldn't imagine what she would have done if he died. She was also glad that Brandon didn't get hurt but the poor bear was still traumatized from the event. He was very brave when he gave the police his statement. Overall, if it wasn't for that Raccoon, who she never got his name, Damien wouldn't be here right now.

Grandma Jones sat down in the chair adjacent to her grandson's bed and wiped a few tears from her eyes. She had to be strong for him.

* * *

Sly and his gang were in Dimitri's SVU, riding down the streets of Yonkers. They were trying to locate the people responsible for the shooting yesterday afternoon. Once they dealt with thugs, Sly was going to visit the meerkat, who he learned was named Damien. Understandably, no one was in a good mood today, primarily Sly. This was one of the things he hated about being back in New York; the poor ghetto areas, drugs, violence, and innocent people, especially children caught up in the madness created by careless and evil adults. All he could do was shake his head. No one talked throughout the trip, the only sound was the music blasting from the CD player.

_And we pray, and we pray and we pray and we pray__  
__Every day, every day, every day, every day__  
__And we pray, and we pray and we pray and we pray__  
__Every day, every day, every day, every day  
_

_See you at the crossroads (crossroads, crossroads)  
So you won't be lonely  
See you at the crossroads (crossroads, crossroads)  
So you won't be lonely  
See you at the crossroads (crossroads, crossroads)  
So you won't be lonely  
See you at the crossroads (crossroads, crossroads)  
So you won't be lonely_

"Sly, I finally pinpointed their hideout. It's a few blocks down in a vacant building. I think it was once a convenient store. I'll send the directions through your Binoucom."

"Thanks Bentley. Me and Murray will infiltrate the thug's hideout and teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

* * *

"This is fucked up! This is real fucked up!" The Wolf Leader bellowed as he kicked a chair down.

"Calm down man, we'll be aiight. We need to just lay low right now and try not tip anyone off." Thug #1 (who was a lynx) said.

"Yeah, ain't nothin' gonna happen." Thug #2 (who was a weasel) added.

"How can I calm down when you muthafuckas shot up a damn playground?!" The Wolf Leader yelled in rage.

"But we got that bitch ass Silas, just like you wanted." Thug #3 (who was a newt) stated.

The Wolf Leader got a hold of the newt's neck, nearly suffocating him.

"Are you really this fucking stupid?! You killed the son of a bitch alright but you also shot a little bastard in the process and now the cops are gonna be on our asses thanks to you clowns!" He felt like his vein in his brain was going to burst from all his ranting.

He releases the newt's neck and contemplated as to what they should do next.

"Get rid of the Cadillac tonight, the cops already know what our getaway car look like." The Wolf ordered.

Then he heard a knock on their door.

The Leader and his thugs pulled out their weapons.

"Who the fuck is at the door?" He whispered to his minions.

They just shrugged, they were just as clueless as he was.

"Polo! Polo!" The heavy voice shouted from the outside.

That was their password, so it had to be someone affiliated with them.

The Wolf shoved one of his thugs to answer it. The lynx thug crept to the door and opened it slightly. Murray barged in and gave the lynx a powerful punch to the face and he fell to the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The Wolf was losing his temper. "GET UP AND FIGHT!"

The lynx thug quickly recovered and grabbed for his gun and tried to shoot at Murray.

However, Murray dodged the bullets and grabbed the lynx and sent him flying to the other side of the room. The lynx hit his back to wall and slid onto the floor, he was knocked out.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GET HIM!" The Wolf angrily demanded and the other thugs charged at the hippo, with one holding a bat and another with chains.

Murray grabbed a chair and hit the newt with it, but the newt got and swung his bat at the hippo's face, which made Murray see stars. The weasel jumped on his back and tried to chock him with the chains. As his minions were occupied with the hippo, The Wolf Leader grabbed his car keys and ran into another room. He went into his safe and emptied it out, putting stacks of money into his backpack. He was ready to leave the hideout until he heard strange noises from the ceiling. He pulled out his gun. The air vent slam onto the floor and out came a Raccoon, who expertly landed on his toes, he was only a few feet away from the wolf.

"This is not my fucking day." The Wolf Leader commented.

"I'm sure it isn't." Sly retorted cockily.

The wolf started blasting at the Raccoon, but failed to even as much rough up his gray fur. Sly jumped up and knocked the gun out of his hand with his trusty cane. Then Sly slammed the bottom of his cane to the ground and dark smoke appeared, covering the two of them. The wolf was coughing and wheezing for a bit until the smoke disappeared and so did the Raccoon. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain smash the back of his head and he collapsed onto the floor. The wolf rebounded and snatched the cane out of his hands and uppercut the Raccoon, who fell backwards, smashing a table in the process.

"Get up muthafucka!" The Wolf Leader was in a fighting stance as he snarled at Sly.

Sly did more than get up, with his agility and speed as he charged at him, he propelled his whole into a kick and sent the wolf stumbling backwards, nearly losing his balance, and was now out of breath.

"Had enough?" Sly smugly asked.

The wolf jabbed the raccoon and their fight became more intense. This went on for the next several minutes as the two of them tried to overcome the other, whether it was a punch, a kick, a scratch, a bite, or trying to twist the other one's tail. Then the wolf remembered he had another gun in his back pocket. He reached for it and pistol whipped the Raccoon, who was now dizzy from the sheering headache he received. The wolf lunge at him and sent the two of them crashing onto the floor, he now had the upper hand.

"Dumb ass bitch!" The wolf mocked him as he pistol whipped him again.

But Sly managed to grab his face and head butted him, making the wolf feel lightheaded. Sly took the gun from the Wolf Leader and threw it across the room. Then he flipped them over, holding the wolf in place and kneed him in the groin, making the wolf screamed in agonizing pain.

Sly got off of him and brushed himself off, even though he knew he had a few bruises and cuts.

He looked down at the pitiful Wolf Leader and just shook his head as he found his cane on the floor and picked it up, twirling it between his fingers.

"People like you make me sick to my stomach. You give hard-working people who live in these ghetto areas a bad name. You rob, kill, sell drugs, torment the innocent, and selfishly ignore the consequences. There's a poor little boy right now that's in the hospital because of people like you." He calmly told the wolf off.

"I don't give a damn about what you say punk." The Wolf Leader mumbled but was still dizzy from the stinging between his legs.

Sly noticed a backpack in the corner of the room and got a hold of it. He unzipped it and saw wads of cash in it.

"I think I'll take this off your hands, this won't be of use to you once you're locked up." He smirked.

"Don't touch my shit!" The Wolf Leader screeched as he got up and attempted to attack Sly but Sly nonchalantly smacked him on the top of his head with his cane and he crumbled to his knees.

He grabbed the wolf by his collar and dragged him into the main room and saw the Murray already had the three thugs tied up, all of them groaning in pain.

"Good work buddy." Sly praised his friend as he threw the wolf next to his minions.

"No sweat pal!" Murray said as he flexed his muscles.

"Sly! You're there?" He heard Bentley talking through his earpiece.

"Yeah, I'm here, we got the job done."

"You and Murray get out of there right now. I anonymously called the police and they're on their way as we speak."

"Gotcha, Bentley." Sly said into his earpiece.

"Well, I had a good time but the cops are coming and I don't want to stick around for that. Have fun in prison for the next twenty-five years."

And with that Sly and Murray made their escape out of the hideout.

* * *

A few hours later, Damien blinked his eyes open and felt his head throbbing. He tried to rub his head, moving his left arm but a stinging pain course through his arm and he groaned.

"Grandma…Grandma." He uttered weakly through his oxygen mask.

"It's okay baby, grandma's here." The older meerkat got up from the chair and lightly squeezed his little hand.

"I'm thirsty." He said.

Grandma Jones slowly elevated her grandson into a sitting position, moved his mask off momentarily, and handed him a cup of water in his right hand. He greedily drank it and began to cough violently.

"Not too fast Damien, I don't want you choking." He patted the boy's back.

When his coughing ceased he pushed the covers off of him and saw that his right leg was bandaged as well as his left arm.

The only things he could strain to remember were hearing his friend scream and a mysterious voice telling him that everything was going to be ok. But that calm and gentle voice was what stood out to Damien the most. He hoped to meet the person who saved his life.

He turned to his grandmother.

"Where's Brandon? Is he ok?" He asked frailly.

"Brandon's ok baby, he's at home right now but tomorrow I'm gonna bring him and that pretty girl Shanice to visit you."

Damien stifled his laugh at his grandmother's comment about Shanice, but he did want to see them.

Then something else came to mind.

"I saw Silas at the playground yesterday, grandma. Have you seen him?"

Grandma Jones felt her heart stop when he asked her that. This was what dreaded the most. Telling him about his father's friend being murdered was going to upset him. He was the closest thing to his father and she didn't know how to go about telling him. She didn't feel it was appropriate to tell him right now, especially in his injured and somewhat disoriented state.

Fortunately, there was a knock on the door and she breathed a sigh of relief. Telling her grandson about Silas could wait.

"Come in."

A lanky and tall Raccoon entered the room. He wore a Mighty Ducks Hockey Jersey, A white Kangol hat, jeans, and Air Jordans.

Grandma Jones got up and gave the Raccoon a hug.

"It's nice to meet you again. Thank you so much for everything."

Damien was confused.

"_Who is this bozo and why is he hugging on my grandma like that?"_ He thought.

"Grandma, you gotta new boyfriend?" The meerkat child blurted out.

The Raccoon and older meerkat both looked at each other as their faces turned red from embarrassment.

"Boy this is not my boyfriend. This is the man that saved your life." She turned to the Raccoon. "Sorry, I don't think we properly introduced ourselves. My name is Lucy Jones." She shook his hand.

"My name is…Sylvester Copper." Sly regretted the silly fake name already.

_"What the hell was I thinking when I came up with that name?" _He thought as he mentally chastised himself.

Damien's ears perked as he heard the Raccoon's calm and subtle voice. He knew it was him who saved him.

"This is my grandson Damien."

Sly walked up to the boy and gave him a smile.

"Hello Damien."

"Hi…" He said shyly.

When he got a closer look at the Raccoon and he recognized him.

"What a minute, I've seen you before."

Sly was a little surprised. "Oh really? When?"

"I was at the basketball court and I kept trying to get your attention to pass me my ball. I thought you were retarded or something."

"Damien, that's a very rude thing to say." His grandmother reprimanded him with a scowl.

"I'm sorry." He had his head down, realizing how stupid he sounded.

Sly just laugh and shook his head.

"I remember now. I know you were mad at me. I was zoned out that day. Anyway, I got you something."

Sly went into his pocket and revealed a two chocolate bars. The little meerkat's face lit up when he saw the candy.

"Hey thanks man!" Damien exclaimed and took the candy.

"Wait until you eat dinner." His grandmother said sternly with her hand sticking out.

"Aww Grandma!" He whined but gave the candy to her.

For the next hour, the three of them talked and asked each other question and whatnot. Sly hated that he had to lie about a few things to the grandmother but he just didn't want her to know too much or get him and his gang in trouble. Eventually, the boy drifted off to sleep, complaining of a headache. Sly was ready to leave.

"It was nice to get to know you Mrs. Jones." He gave her a hug.

"Same to you young man. Again, thank you so much for saving my baby. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to Damey."

"Well, what matters now is that he's safe."

Grandma Jones nodded.

"See you later."

"Visit anytime Sylvester." He waved and closed the door behind him.

* * *

At 3 A.M. in the morning, Carmelita was asleep dreaming about a certain Raccoon.

She was back in Paris, she was doing what she did best, stopping crime until _he_ appeared. Even thought the streetlights were dim, she knew it was him. The Raccoon and the Vixen were the only two people outside for some reason but that didn't matter. She was going to stop him at all cost.

"Ringtail! You've been hiding yourself for a while huh?"

He gave her his signature smug expression and leaned on his cane.

"You missed me, love?"

She felt herself get heated.

"N-n-no I didn't miss you, puta! I know you're up to something."

He gasped as he placed his hand on his chest, acting hurt.

"My dear, I'm not up to anything. Why would you even assume such a thing?"

Carmelita rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Cut the bullshit, Sly. I know your avaricious ass is out trying to steal something as usual."

He grinned at her as he made his way over to her. "Well, now that I think about it, I was after something tonight."

"I knew it!" She reached into her holster, only to find that her Shock Pistol missing.

"_Oh shit, I must have left it at the office! Dios, this isn't like me to do that."_ She thought.

"I see my vixen doesn't have her gun with her." He giggled. "Well, that's good for me. We can skip the fighting and get to the real deal."

"What the fuck are you-" She was cut off in mid-sentence when in a flash Sly dropped his cane and wrapped his arms around her waist and pinned her into a bricked corner.

"Stop playing these stupid games with me Ringtail!" She struggled underneath him, he just giggled at her feebly attempts to escape his grasp.

"You're so cute." He pressed his body even closer and grinded up against her. She felt herself losing self-control and started to moan.

"Fuck you." Carmelita whispered. She felt him breathing down her neck.

"Such vulgarity but surely you wouldn't mind doing that to me, hmm?" An unfamiliar husk crept into his voice.

"Stop it…" She murmured.

"No." He responded playfully.

Finally she gave in.

"Kiss me Sly." She said softly.

He smirked and did as he was told.

Carmelita's eyes widened and she shot up from her bed as her heart raced wildly. She wasn't in Paris, she was still in a hotel in Yonkers.

"GODDAMMIT! She cursed. "GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD SLY!" The vixen slumped back into the bed in aggravation.

* * *

**A/N: Whoa. I can't believe I wrote this. This actually took a lot out of me. I hope you guys enjoyed this. The next chapter will be even better as The Cooper gang go on their heist. Stay Tuned. BTW, the lyrics in the story are Nas- Street Dreams (remix) and Bone Thugs N Harmony- Crossroads. I don't own the music or the Sly Cooper characters, only the OC characters are of my possession. Thanks for the support peace.**


	13. A New Beginning and Aww Snap!

**A/N- Long Chapter but hopefully a good one. Enjoy and Please Leave a Comment.**

* * *

It was exactly two weeks since the shooting incident (today was Wednesday) and Sly and the crew decided to go on with their heist. Sly wanted to do it earlier but ever since he met Damien, the heist wasn't on his mind as much. Still, he didn't want to disappoint his friends or himself, so that was why they were on their way to the museum in Yonkers at 10 P.M. The museum closed a little early today, about 6:30 P.M., so by the time they would arrive, the janitor or whoever left would probably be gone by then. Their plans had to be slightly tweaked because Bentley found out that the Sword of the Samurai was now displayed in the Main Room of the museum among other things, so that was going to be a little challenging. But that was one of the things Sly liked about being a thief, the challenge and thinking outside the box to get what he wanted. If there were no challenges, then there's no fun in being a thief.

As they rode down the highway, Sly thought about Damien. While visiting him from time to time at the hospital, The Raccoon and the meerkat talked about many things and realized they had a lot in common. The both liked blue, video games, mint chocolate chip ice cream, Hip Hop, and books. This tickled Sly. He only knew him for a short amount of time but part of him felt connected to the kid. He wasn't exactly sure but something about the little meerkat made him feel as if he known him longer than two weeks.

Damien was released from the hospital this past Saturday. He was in better condition but he had to avoid doing rigorous activities for a little while. When he got home, Sly came over to his visit him, much to his surprise. He helped get him settled and even helped him with his homework because he was going back to school on Monday. When his friends came over, Damien introduced Sly to his friends Brandon, who he met the day of the incident, and Shanice. Both of them liked Sly right away and even though Brandon the little bear was still little shaken since the shooting, he definitely was in a better mood. They stayed at Damien's home, watching TV, playing Nintendo, and playing board games. Later on, Sly, unfortunately, had to leave but he promised Damien he'll take him out for ice cream afterschool if it was ok with Grandma Jones, which she allowed.

As they arrived to Yonkers, Sly smiled as he thought about the first time him and Damien hung out together two days ago, it didn't even start off with smiles nor go as planned…

* * *

Sly was outside Damien's school, waiting patiently for him to get out. He looked at his watch; it was about 2:15 P.M. He heard the bell ring and saw a swarm of kids rushing out of the school. He spotted Damien trudging with his head down; he couldn't walk as fast because the wound in his leg, but Sly knew it's wasn't just his leg that was making walk that way. He approached the little meerkat to see what was bothering him.

"Hey Damien, what's wrong little buddy?" He asked as he rumpled the meerkat's dreads.

The meerkat said nothing but looked up at Sly with a frown drawn on his face.

"Did someone bother you Damey?"

He shook his head.

"Does your arm or leg hurt?"

"A little but…" Damien's voice trailed off.

Sly kneeled before Damien and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Damien, I know there's something wrong, you can tell me."

Damien looked into the Raccoon's eyes, with a stone-cold glare.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Huh? Who didn't tell you what?" Sly confused.

"She didn't tell me. She didn't let me go say goodbye to him!" His voice began to rise.

"What are you talking about Damien? Calm down and explain to Sylvester what's wrong?" Sly hated going by that name, but right now wasn't the time to think about that.

"Grandma told me Silas was killed at the playground! She told me this morning! I knew something was wrong when she didn't tell me where Silas was right away! I didn't believe her at first but I saw the little booklet they had for his funeral! She didn't even tell me she went! Why she do that to me man?! Why?!" Damien was hysterical and speeding through his speech.

Sly knew right away what the kid was talking about. Silas was the Jackel he and Murray found dead at the playground the day of the shooting. The police still don't know why he was killed, the thugs responsible for the killing and harming Damien weren't stitching, but of course they were still going to be convicted due to the undeniable evidence held against them.

Sly held the kid and rubbed his back.

"Damien, it's going to be ok."

"Naw Sylvester, everything is fucked up! I tried to pretend it wasn't true but that didn't work! Silas is dead man! He's dead. He was the closest thing to my dad and now he's gone! Grandma done lied to me!" This time he was sobbing uncontrollably. The meerkat's tears stained the Raccoon's shirt but he didn't care.

"Damien, your grandmother didn't lie to you. You were injured and had a concussion. You were in no condition to know any of that. It would have made things worse. She wasn't doing it to hurt you, your grandmother would never do that to you and you know it." The Raccoon coaxed him as he ran his hand up and down the meerkat's back.

Sly felt so bad for Damien. It hurt him to see how upset he was. He had a feeling that death wasn't new to the child, then again he lived in a housing project, but it didn't make it any less painful. For the next few minutes, the two of them said nothing as Sly pulled him tighter and let Damien weep, letting all his fears and sadness out.

When he managed to calm down a little, the two of them pulled away. Damien coughed and then faced Sly, with his tear-stained face.

"Someone told me where he was buried. I want to go and say goodbye. Will you go with me?"

"Of course I will."

They were at the graveyard, it was eerily quiet but there was a serene presence that was sort of relaxing. Still, for some reason, Sly could feel the spirits lurking throughout the place, it sent chills to his spine.

The yard was scattered with headstones upon headstones. Finally after about twenty minutes of searching, they stumbled across Silas's grave.

It had a marble headstone. There were a few flowers, pictures of Silas as a child, and teddy bears surrounding his grave.

Damien was down on one knee and read the engravings in the headstone to himself.

"_Here lies Silas Isaac Maxwell, December 13th, 1964-September 18__th__, 1996; Rest in Peace my brother."_

"Hey Silas, it's me, Damey. I can't believe you gone man…" He felt the sting of hot tears forming in his lower eyelid.

"You were the closest thing I had to my dad…you took me to the movies, we played video games, ate junk food, and you used to let me stay at your house…" Damien was trying to find something else to say.

"I remember when you took me to Coney Island and how we went on rides and then I threw up on you. Boy you were mad!" He snickered at the memory.

"I also remember the time when you and I used to wrestle with each other. You even took me to see a wrestle match because you knew how much I liked it. I know you were sick that day but you took me anyway, you didn't have to but you did." He paused a moment.

"Look at me, talking to a gravestone. I must look like a dummy right now. You're not really here anymore. You up in heaven, probably hanging out with dad, I bet he missed you. Silas, I bet you and dad are having a blast and chill-laxing, or whatever goes on up there…I'm gonna miss you. Please tell dad I said hi and that I love him and that mommy loves him too, but I haven't seen mommy in a while, but I know she misses him."

"I love ya man."

Damien got up from the ground and wiped the tears and snot on the back of his blue hoodie. Sly put his hand on his shoulder, and gave him a smile. Sly almost felt like crying his own self but he kept it together.

"You think he heard me, Sylvester?"

"I'm sure he did. I bet he's happy that you visited him."

"Thanks for coming with me." Damien gave Sly a hug.

"You still want some ice cream buddy?"

The little meerkat nodded and smiled weakly.

"You know I like mint chocolate chip."

* * *

Sly sighed and closed his eyes until Dimitri's SUV came to a stop. They were about thirty yards away from the museum.

"We're here Cracker-Box!" Dimitri shouted.

"I noticed that Dimitri." He said sarcastically.

"Why you gotta be like that?" The Iguana hissed at him.

"Dimitri, I was just playing with you." The Raccoon nudged him with his elbow.

"Ok, you guys are you all prepared?" Bentley queried.

"Always." Sly replied

"The Murray is ready!"

"Hell yeah homie!"

"Good! Let's do this!"

Sly and Murray hopped out the SUV and went separate ways. Murray headed towards the museum and was on the lookout. He found an air vent, snatched it out and made sure no one was there. When everything was clear, he signaled to Sly, who was hiding in the bush, to come forward.

"Ok Murray," Sly said as he approached the Hippo. "Thanks for the help, buddy."

"You know The Murray's got your back. If you need anything, just hit me up."

"But how will you get in? I mean no offense Murray, but you wouldn't be able to fit through the vent."

"The Murray always found a way. But for now, I'll be out here, just go." He gestured him to go on.

Sly nodded and crawled into the vent. He took out his Binoucom, with had a flashlight installed so he wouldn't be fumbling aimlessly in the dark, dusty confined space.

"Ok Bentley, show me the way." He said coolly.

"Ok Sly, I want you to make a left and just keep going straight until I tell you otherwise."

"Gotcha!"

He crawled through the small tunnel, trying to not make too much noise, as his hands and knees shifted onto the metal. The more he ventured the more dust that collected onto him.

"Sheesh, do these folks not change their filter?" Sly fell into a coughing spell.

"Stay focus Sly." Bentley ordered. "Now turn right."

"That's easy for you to say." He continued his fits of coughing. "You're not the one that's hacking their lungs out here, are you?"

The turtle just giggled. "Sly, just make a right."

The Raccoon rolled his eyes and did what he was told. Bentley continued to instruct Sly as to where to go until he finally saw small rays of light peering through the vent.

"Finally." Sly whispered.

He pulled out a screwdriver and unscrewed the vent.

"Stay where you are Sly. I'm still trying to hack into the surveillance system and it's rather headache inducing."

"Ok."

He waited for a few minutes until Bentley was finished, this time talking to Sly through his earpiece.

"Alright, I managed to shut off the cameras and the lasers in this hallway, but unfortunately the cameras and security in the main room are another story but I'm still working on that. However, if I can't, you're gonna have to disengaged them yourself or just avoid them altogether. Whatever works for you Sly. "

"Alright, thanks for the heads up Bentley."

"Oh and Sly, please be careful."

He giggled. "Ok Bentley."

Sly crept down the hallway viewing his surroundings and swiftly ran. The hallway was pretty dim, but he noticed the interesting African and Australian artifacts on display.

"Wow, there's some nice stuff in this place." He commented to himself.

He heard something moving, like footsteps, and he quickly hid in a dark corner. He took a peek and realized no one was around. He wiped his brow and went on his way.

He went further down the hallway, still mesmerized by the artwork and artifacts from various cultures. Instruments, weapons, and masks were catching his eyes at every turn. After going down the hallway for quite some time, he was getting very bored with all the walking and hiding behind display cases. So, he spotted a long pole he could climb up and jumped onto a chandelier, which was sturdy enough to hold his weight. He jumped onto another chandelier, and then another one, and then another until there was no more.

"Man, it's a shame the fun had to end."

He took out his Binoucom again.

"Ok Bentley, where do I go from here?"

"Umm Sly…why are up on the chandelier? I could have sworn I cut off all the security in the hallway."

"You did. It's just that I was getting a little bored from running down the hallway so I amped it up a notch."

"Well, you are adventurous. Anyway, since you're up there, try to zoom in and find a hook."

Sly zoomed into his Binoucom and found a hook.

"There it is." He said.

"Ok, do you see any more?"

"Yeah Bentley, I see more."

"Alright, it's a good thing you're high up, swing from hook to hook and once you see a sign that says "Main Room" that's where you go. It may take you a good minute to get there but that's good for me because I'm still trying to hack into the system in that room. Sheesh, whoever installed that security equipment in there was definitely a clever one." Bentley explained.

"Okay, oh how's Dimitri?"

"Just his usual incoherent self."

"Figures. Ok, once I'm near there, I'll hit you." Then Sly put his Binoucom up and took his cane out.

He propelled himself into the air and latched his cane onto the first hook. He swung back and forth to gain energy and the pushed off to latch onto another hook.

"Now, this is getting more exciting." Sly said happily.

He continued jumping from hook to hook and came across the sign that read "Main Room" and then saw the last hook, which was attached to the top of the door frame and he hooked his cane to it.

He nearly lost the grip of his cane when he laid his eyes on the treasure he's been seeking long before he arrived to New York. The Sword of the Samurai was something special. Over 2 1/2 ft long, it was literally made out of gold, with a platinum handled encrusted with diamonds. The sheath was also made out of gold with a few colored gems covering it. Even in the dim light and from the distance, it was glowing and sparkling. It was in a glass case, bolted down to the display table.

Sly was very pleased by this but unfortunately, there were lasers and two cameras surrounding it. Meaning that Bentley was either still trying to disengage them or he was unable to.

Sly took out his Binoucom once more and spoke with Bentley.

"I'm hanging from the threshold and found our treasure. But, I guess you couldn't hack into the system."

"Yeah, sorry Sly."

"It's ok Bentley, there are always alternatives." Then he put his Binoucom up.

He unhooked his cane and landed on his feet. He really had to give this some thought.

His real problem at the moment was the two cameras. Now, how was he going to fix that? He thought for a moment and idea popped into his mind. He went into his backpack and found his slingshot and some clay. He only brought this with him when he was bored. He placed the clay on the sling, pulled back and released and it covered the lens on the first camera. He wasn't so lucky with the other camera but after a few attempts, he covered the lens.

"Wow," Sly mumbled as he put away his slingshot. "Never thought that would come in handy, very convenient, I say."

Next was the red laser. He could try to find the alarm system and dismantle it but shook it off, figuring it would take too long. He already spent enough time in this museum, as nice as it was, but he was ready to take what he came for and leave. The next option was to avoid touching the laser, basically doing the serious version of the limbo. He went with that tactic.

It started with him stepping over one laser ray and then bent down and avoided another. He found himself walking backwards to make sure nothing, especially his tail, touched anything. There was barely space between the lines, but Sly already knew it wasn't going to be easy. He meticulous dodged the red lines as he got closer to the display case. Doing this reminded him of dancing mixed with Twister. He twirled around and did a few hops. Afterwards he got on his back and crab-walked under a very low laser ray.

Finally, he stood up carefully as he was now only a few inches away from the Sword. The only thing that was between them was the glass case. He felt his heart thumping in his chest. His eyes glistened in anticipation; he was prepared to make the final move.

He fumbled in his pocket and took out a razor blade. He painstakingly dragged the blade on the case's surface, creating a large hole until he heard a small pop. He looked around the room he didn't want to get caught. He slowly took the cut glass and attentively placed it aside the edge of the table. The Sword and the sheath were on stands. He reached for the sheath and briskly snatched it out of the case. Now, he had to get the Sword. He once again reached into the case, just an inch a way. The Sword jiggled, Sly thought it was going to fall off its stand, but didn't. He felt himself sweating like crazy. When his finger touched the metallic surface, Sly felt a sense of power and adrenaline coursing through his veins. A wide prideful smile grew as he at last grabbed the sword out of the case.

He examined the room once more; making sure no one was around. He put the Sword in its sheath and repeated the dance of avoiding the maze of laser rays. It was harder to retrace his steps than he was aware of. When he managed out of the complicated red lasers, he almost jumped out of his Nikes in exhilaration. He turned back to face the empty case.

He just softly chuckled at the great job he did.

He took a few steps backwards, not paying attention until it was too late.

He felt something poking his back and he instantly flinched, he frozen for a second.

Then he heard a familiar voice that he hasn't heard in awhile other than his dreams.

"Freeze you son of a bitch!" The young feminine voice snared. "You are under arrest."

Sly didn't even have to turn to know who it was. His surprised expression was quickly replaced with a devious grin.

* * *

**A/N- Uh Oh, here comes trouble for Sly Cooper! Hey you guys, I hope this was exciting! I just want to thank my readers and guests for the support! I really do appreciate it! Once again please leave a comment and don't be afraid to PM me if you have any questions! Peace!**


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